The Rakes - Capture / Release
(2006)

Review by Sean Lynch

It's a very confusing time for music, with new sub/extra/slash/genre crossing/punk/whatever genre's being created every day it seems. It almost takes away from the credibility of bands these days -- what ever happened to Rock, Pop and Nikki Webster? 

Simple, effective, we all knew what we were in for.

It's kind of a shame that bands like The Rakes are a dime a dozen these days (or if converted to Australian Dollars, an old button and some twine a dozen), because there are some fantastic tunes coming out of the post-punk/art-rock scene - with The Rakes at the forefront. 

Their debut album "Capture / Release" comes in essence a bit late into the English rock bandwagon, however, there are some fantastic tunes on display here.

Retreat works superbly as up tempo, text book indie rock. While 22 Grand Job and Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep), show the band's skill to encompass the blue collar attitude to working life - the mundane routines - and really present an element of escapism that is far superior to many bands of their ilk.

In fact, I've always wondered where bands like this go once they hit the big time... How can you sing about blue collar woes when you are sipping champagne out of a glass slipper worn by a playboy playmate? 

Sure, The Rakes aren't there yet, but it seems an inevitability that they will at least once or twice be exposed to this kind of fun before the next album hits stores. Heaven knows what The Arctic Monkey's will have left, and we all know that The Streets lost it once they stopped singing about pill-popping with the commoners and started rhyming about living it up with the rich and famous.

The album peaked at #32 in the UK, with publicity machine NME naming it the 13th best album of 2005 (apparently they hadn't received an advance copy of Daryl Somers "Songlines" before finalising the list) and received general critical acclaim. However, it's Australian release has been met with much less fanfare, minimal radio play on Triple J - with the most recognisable sounds being the remixed tracks at Aussie clubs.

First instincts tend to lead you to lump The Rakes in with bands such as Franz Ferdinand (who they have supported in the UK), Bloc Party, Maximo Park, and The Futureheads in one convenient cluster. But upon closer inspection, you'll see that there is much more of a Razorlight vibe going (keeping in mind that the Razorlight album also failed to spark any reaction in Oz despite much acclaim in the UK).

There is possibly too many similarities to every other UK "NME Band of the Week" to allow The Rakes to have an long shelf life of enormous popularity, but there are some absolute rippers on this album here, that - when turned up nice and loud in the car - will get you pumped up and ready for a drunken, dancing/flailing night out.

RATING: 3 out of 5