Product Description

London based indie rockers The Rakes follow up their critically acclaimed 2005 debut 'Capture/Release.' Produced by JimAbiss (Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys) and Brendan Lynch (Paul Weller, Primal Scream), 'Ten New Messages' was recorded in London in late 2006 and boasts a cleaner sound and more refinedcontent than its predecessor, whilst retaining the band's trademark grit and intensity. Includes the single 'We Danced Together.'

Track Listing

1. 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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29923 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-19
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Jerky, irreverent and quasi-intellectual – thanks to right place/right time positioning, a frontman with all the behavioural anti-style of a skinny David Brent and everyday themes that were all too easy to relate to, The Rakes quickly received plaudits by the bundle and a lot of shouting ensued about them being an indie The Streets, or similar. Of course they weren't as clever as that, nor were they as brash as Franz Ferdinand, as intense as Bloc Party, as literate as Maximo Park, as chaotic as The Libertines or as slick as Razorlight, meaning that when the hype settled they were little more than that stale taste in the back of your throat from last night.

The general turnaround on Ten New Messages is as unexpected then as it is gratifying, with the stunted punk instancy of old traded in for a complex mesh of tight rhythms, creeping criss-cross melodic patch-working and a more mature palette of influences all round. The band are on leaner form, no doubt, but it's the front of house work by Alan Donahue that's likely to pull in the silverware. His vocals themselves are more assured but it's the focussed narratives – tracking someone down in the immediate aftermath of the 7/7 bombings (the anxious, touching "When Tom Cruise Cries") and the racism that inevitably followed that day (the inspired, multi-protagonist "Suspicious Eyes") for instance – where he simmers tensions and tone with a skill that the frivolity of their debut just couldn't manage. Discard all old messages. Save new. --James Berry

Customer Reviews

London Calling!
This is an album I listen to frequently.I hadn't heard any of the Rakes previous to a friend giving me a CD of this,so I was instantly converted on hearing it.This London band are very talented and have a Dickensian charm about their leadman Alan Donohoe's voice.
Fave tracks include: The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect,When Tom Cruise Cries,On A Mission,but they're all very good songs.The production is faultless,the musicianship top class,and the tunes very singable.
One of those albums to listen to again and again in years to come.

A change of sound, but arguably a good one.
Much like Maximo Park earlier this year, the Rakes have followed a critically acclaimed album that underwhelmed me with a second album that may not get the same fevered response from a lot of critics but is a record that I prefer.

The brashness and punk ethic that encapsulated the likes of 22 Grand Job has pretty much disappeared, to be replaced by reflective, but utterly melodic, tunes.

At it's best it's brilliant. The likes of Down With Moonlight are sublime and there are a few tracks, like We Danced Together, that get better every time you hear them again.

The only real places when it gets a little too misplaced is on the likes of Suspicious Eyes, a game attempt to write a song relevant for these terrorist influenced times but one that falls flat. It's neither sharp enough lyrically, or memorable enough musically to convince. Similarly When Tom Cruise Cries is a game effort, but just not a very memorable song (seemingly exactly the same all the way through it's near five minute running time) and whilst the idea of song largely concerned with mobile phone signals being crap may sound interesting, Mike Skinner has already given us much wittier examples of how to do it properly.

So it's not a perfect record, and I can well imagine fans of their first album being very suspicious when they first hear it. Still, it is a good record which does improve with repeat listens.

Middle of the road.
I actually agree in large parts, with the scathing review below...
This is a distinctly average album - it's not bad but it's not good either. Having seen them live last night, the general ambivalence of the record translates to the live show. Needless to say, the tracks from the first album carried the show in their punchy wake.

Avoiding a track by track analysis, there are a couple of strongish tracks, namely The World was a Mess But His Hair was Perfect and When Tom Cruise Cries. I find the first single, We Danced Together, a tad repetitive and uninspiring, although, that said, I still can't help but sing the chorus. Little Superstitions is just plain rubbish - how it manages to gain the exalted status of 2nd track on the album is beyond me.

I do want to take issue with the comments below that the album lacks enthusiasm. At face value, this is true. But I think this confuses irreverent style, one of the most appealing aspects of the first album, with apathy. The monotone, as I hear it, relays the protagonist's outlook on life - stale and staid.

It's not all bad however, it's an enjoyable enough way to spend 40 minutes. Perhaps the most alarming aspect, however, is that it sets a strong precedent for dodgy 2nd albums from second tier indie bands, a trend that's compounded by Maximo Park (who's first offering I loved). We shall have to see if this carries on to the current batch of indie favourites, The Holloways and Good Shoes being pertinent examples...