Track Listing

1. You're In It
2. That's The Reason
3. Loneliness Of The Outdoor Smoker
4. Bitchin' In The Kitchin'
5. Woes Of The Working Woman, The
6. 1989
7. Shackleton
8. Light From Your Mac, The
9. Muller's Ratchet
10. Final Hill, The

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11166 in Music
• Released on: 2009-03-23
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
The third album from London post-punkers The Rakes was recorded in Berlin, Germany, in the ex-East German government's centre for radio broadcasts. The decision to record abroad was taken due to the band's dissatisfaction with the current London music scene, which they considered stale and uninspiring. Lyrically, The Rakes have not strayed far from their usual topic of working life and nine to five mundanity, while 'Klang' is preceded by the single '1989'.

Customer Reviews

Good Return
It has been a couple of years since the fantastic 'Ten New Messages' and the Rakes have returned with a third album of spiky punky songs. Clocking in at under 30 minutes it makes for exhilarating listening and the album starts off at a fantastic speed with the brilliant 'You're In It' and 'That's The Reason' with the latter being the best song on the album.

The pace continues with 'Smoker' which gives us a good insight into modern Britain. The album dips in form with 'Bitchin' In The Kithen' but luckily picks up again with the sing-along classic '1989'. 'Shakelton' allows the album to carry on in a good form with a raw guitar verse and chorus. A driving bass line carries the next song and the final two songs see the album off in fine style with the piano driven 'Mullers Racket' and the superb 'The Final Hill.'

A good album from The Rakes but one that will no doubt be overlooked by the majority of the record buying public. For those of us who have got this album, let us cherish another fun loving album!

Cracking little album, bought on a whim
I had never heard of this band before purchasing this album, I actually was influenced by the cover art (Something quite common for me, and i've bought my fair share of stinkers as a result!). It's a very easy listen, quite raw sounding (compared to their early stuff as I later found out)and fairly short - just under half an hour. For the money you can't really go wrong.
Stand out tracks for me include 'That's The Reason', '1989' and 'Mullers Ratchet'

Klunky
I don't know what it is about their third album, but considering they were left on a knife-edge with their poor second (Ten New Messages), they needed something to keep people interested. This is brillaint. 1989 is one of the best tracks on this millenium for me, and has the 'oomph-factor' that's needed to keep british indie-rock music from falling down the pretencious plughole it is currently sinking down.