June 8, 2005
A bunch of lively new music scenes have sprouted up around the country over the last few years - most notably with the likes of Babyshambles, Bloc Party and The Others emerging from the dark depths of East London. Lurking in the shadows somewhere just behind are The Rakes, who have quietly kept their heads down, drafting a sure-to-be-sensational debut album (‘Capture/Release'), chipping away at low-key tours, successfully avoiding the hype that has swallowed so many of their peers. The result is murky, jerky and full of character, the sheer excellence of it all leaving you spitting expletives.
The Rakes are unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeves; as Alan Donohoe channels the spirit of Ian Curtis through his eyes and psychotic twitching, Matthew Swinnerton's guitar follows close behind, reliving Graham Coxon's past glories. Like Joy Division and Wire before them, they often twist away from the obvious lyrical subjects; ‘Strasbourg' tackles rioting, espionage and Eastern Bloc oppression, while ‘Terror!' is mumbled paranoia, dealing with the 9/11 fallout (“every plane is a missile, every suitcase a bomb”). You don't get that with Girls Aloud, more's the pity.
On the other side of the coin, Donohoe also seems to have been paying attention to what The Streets have to say. '22 Grand Job' is a 90-second tale of greed and envy caused by life spent on the corporate wheel, while ‘Just Got Paid' documents a luckless night on the pull with alarming honesty (prostitutes are the answer, apparently).
Alan is, without a doubt, the centre of things; it's impossible to take your eyes off him when he's in full flow, as he acts out every lyric through a series of bizarre hand gestures. As a band, it would seem that they're getting tighter with every show they play – crucially, they also look as if they're having a great time, drawing energy from a crowd who hang on to every note. They could well clean up at next year's award shows, with the ‘next Franz Ferdinand' plaudits sure to be just around the corner.
The Rakes may belong to a time where the chav pub is king in 1000 towns, but they flood their songs with romance, intelligence and historical intrigue without breaking a sweat. With ‘Capture/Release', produced by Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Futureheads, Babyshambles), due to be unleashed at the start of August, this summer could be theirs for the taking.
The Rakes are unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeves; as Alan Donohoe channels the spirit of Ian Curtis through his eyes and psychotic twitching, Matthew Swinnerton's guitar follows close behind, reliving Graham Coxon's past glories. Like Joy Division and Wire before them, they often twist away from the obvious lyrical subjects; ‘Strasbourg' tackles rioting, espionage and Eastern Bloc oppression, while ‘Terror!' is mumbled paranoia, dealing with the 9/11 fallout (“every plane is a missile, every suitcase a bomb”). You don't get that with Girls Aloud, more's the pity.
On the other side of the coin, Donohoe also seems to have been paying attention to what The Streets have to say. '22 Grand Job' is a 90-second tale of greed and envy caused by life spent on the corporate wheel, while ‘Just Got Paid' documents a luckless night on the pull with alarming honesty (prostitutes are the answer, apparently).
Alan is, without a doubt, the centre of things; it's impossible to take your eyes off him when he's in full flow, as he acts out every lyric through a series of bizarre hand gestures. As a band, it would seem that they're getting tighter with every show they play – crucially, they also look as if they're having a great time, drawing energy from a crowd who hang on to every note. They could well clean up at next year's award shows, with the ‘next Franz Ferdinand' plaudits sure to be just around the corner.
The Rakes may belong to a time where the chav pub is king in 1000 towns, but they flood their songs with romance, intelligence and historical intrigue without breaking a sweat. With ‘Capture/Release', produced by Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Futureheads, Babyshambles), due to be unleashed at the start of August, this summer could be theirs for the taking.