The Rakes
Capture / Release
Release Date: Apr 25, 2006
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: V2
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Album Review: Capture / Release by The Rakes
Very Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Out of all the post-punk- and new wave-inspired bands coming out of the U.K. in the 2000s, the Rakes are the closest to straightforward, meat-and-potatoes punk. They set their tales of urban claustrophobia to alternately bouncy and angular rock that recalls the Clash and the paranoid sounds of the Stranglers, and also echo contemporaries like the Strokes and fellow Paul Epworth production clients Maxïmo Park and Bloc Party.
Based on rating 3/5
The Rakes have the sort of rumpled angularity that has been making French fashion designers gurgle about le rock anglais recently. But what distinguishes them from fellow fashion-punks the Others, Hard-Fi, etc is singer Alan Donohoe, who is a "vivacious [sic] reader": anyone who has been mourning the demise of the meaningful lyric will be delighted by his storytelling. Donohoe's narratives are bundled up into punchy, punky three-minute bursts that win points for verve, if not originality.