The Rakes - Ten New Messages
Second long player from the London based fashion icons which includes the lead single We Danced Together
Track List :
1. The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect
2. Little Superstitions
3. We Danced Together
4. Trouble
5. Suspicious Eyes
6. On a Mission
7. Down With Moonlight
8. When Tom Cruise Cries
9. Time to Stop Talking
10. Leave The City and Come Home
Indie's climate changes bewilderingly fast. The bands that capture today's zeitgeist are quickly replaced by a new set of auteurs who will soon claim it as their own. And so the Rakes, along with their fellow 2005 success stories (Bloc Party, Maximo Park), are set the task of staying relevant to a post-Monkeys, post-nu rave, post-Dickensian goth world.
The Rakes were a band who made quick-fix indie punk built around references your dog could understand. Their old persona was characterised by their mock-cityboy anthem '22 Grand Job'. And judging by this, their second offering, wry British observation is a trick the Rakes intend to trademark. 'Ten New Messages' concerns the trials and tribulations of inner-city living in 2006 in which broken mobiles, broken hearts and broadband all play prominent parts.
The raucous jerking of their debut has given way to a more dynamic, contemplative album, where the guitars purr, the crescendos are big, and singer Alan Donohoe's vocal melodies are the guiding light. The air of frantic excitement and catchphrase-heavy quirkiness is replaced by a cooler, more detached sense of commentary. Tracks such as 'Little Superstitions' and 'Time to Stop Talking' characterise the band's tuneful new stance as maturing statesmen of indie.
But what hasn't changed are the no-nonsense guitar-led hooks which chirp with a familiar charm, betraying the fact that these are boys who fell for the Nineties staples of Elastica, Blur and Suede. And while not everything hits the mark - 'On a Mission"s mantra-like lines come off clumsily, for instance - there's enough here at least to draw comparisons with the aforementioned Britpop mainstays and keep them among the forefront of 2007's elite.
Source : Observer
