The Rakes

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The Rakes were an English indie rock band from London. They split up in October 2009.

History

The Rakes formed in 2004.^[2] Since coming to fame in 2005, they were associated with the British post-punk/art rock scene, a genre shared by bands such as Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park, and The Futureheads.^{[citation needed]} However, it could be argued that the Rakes originated from the east London/Whitechapel punk scene – along with The Others and The Libertines.^{[citation needed]}

The Rakes wrote songs about working life, mundane routines and escapism.^{[citation needed]} Their debut album, Capture/Release, spawned the singles "22 Grand Job", "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)", and "Retreat".^[2] Several of their singles have appeared in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart and Capture/Release reached #32 in the UK Albums Chart.^[3][4] The final single release from Capture/Release, "All Too Human", was released in the UK on 27 February 2006 and reached their best chart position (#22) to date.^[3][4]

The Rakes' second album, Ten New Messages was released by V2 Records on 19 March 2007. This album was produced by Jim Abiss (who has also worked with Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Kasabian) and Brendan Lynch (who has worked with Primal Scream). It was recorded in Mayfair Studios in London during the autumn of 2006.

The band's third album, called Klang, was recorded at Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin in a studio that was the former East German Government's centre for radio broadcasts.^[5]

The Rakes accompanied Franz Ferdinand on their 'You Could Have It So Much Better. ..' tour during the winter of 2005. They toured the UK throughout January and February 2006 – supported by White Rose Movement, Duels, Young Knives, Switches and Klaxons. They have also completed their first tour of the UK since the release of Ten New Messages, including their biggest headline concert to date, a sold out show at Brixton Academy.

The Rakes were quite famous for their fashion sense, and the particularly distinctive dress style: stripey tops or smart polo shirts, black drainpipe jeans and black trainers.^{[citation needed]} They were also associated with the Fred Perry, Dior Homme and Louis Vuitton brands. Fashion designer Hedi Slimane was said to be so impressed by the band's music and dress sense that he based one of his collections around them.^{[citation needed]} The Rakes also provided the soundtrack to the Dior Homme fashion show, with the song "The World Was A Mess, But His Hair Was Perfect".

On the 22nd October 2009, The Rakes announced that the band was to split with immediate effect. "The Rakes have always been very adamant and proud of the fact that we give 100% to every gig we’ve ever played. If we can’t give it everything then we won’t do it. That was the rule we set ourselves from day one".^[6]

Discography

Main article: The Rakes discography

Albums

• Capture/Release (15 August 2005) V2 #32 UK
• Ten New Messages (19 March 2007) V2 #38 UK
• Klang (23 March 2009) V2

External links

• The Rakes official website
• The Rakes interview on CC
• First listen to The Rakes - 1989
• Alan Donohoe interview
• PopMatters interview (November 2005)
• The Rakes Fuel TV interview

References