The Rakes were an English
post-punk band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
* Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
* Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...
formed in
London in 2003. Their first album ''
Capture/Release'' released in 2005, received a nine out of ten review in the ''NME'' and was rated 13th best album of the year in the same paper. The band cited in their influences
the Specials
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynv ...
,
Siouxsie and the Banshees and
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
.
The band disbanded in October 2009, after six years.
History
The Rakes formed in 2002.
Their debut album, ''
Capture/Release'', spawned the singles "22 Grand Job", "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)", and "Retreat".
Several of their singles appeared in the
Top 40 of the
UK Singles Chart and ''Capture/Release'' reached No. 32 in the
UK Albums Chart.
[Everyhit.com - accessed April 2009](_blank)
/ref> 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 (No. 22).
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
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...
, Editors and Kasabian) and Brendan Lynch (who has worked with Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums ...
). It was recorded in Mayfair Studios
Mayfair Recording Studios, earlier called Spot Studios or Ryemuse Studios, was a recording studio in London, England, located in Mayfair from the 1960s to 1981, then in Primrose Hill from 1981 until it closed in 2008.
In the early years the studio ...
in London during the autumn of 2006.
The band's third album, '' Klang'', was recorded at Karl-Marx-Allee
Karl-Marx-Allee ( en, Karl Marx Alley) is a monumental socialist boulevard built by the GDR between 1952 and 1960 in Berlin Friedrichshain and Mitte. Today the boulevard is named after Karl Marx. It should not be confused with the ''Karl-Mar ...
in Berlin in a studio that was the former East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
government's centre for radio broadcasts.
The Rakes supported Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
F ...
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
White Rose Movement were a post-punk/ electro band from London, England. The band was named after the German anti-Nazi resistance movement White Rose. They mixed the post-punk style and attitude of early bands of the genre such as Joy Divisio ...
, Duels
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules.
During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and lat ...
, Young Knives
Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. The name is based on a misunderstanding of "young knaves", which was found by the band when rummaging through a book.
The band was originally named Simple Past ...
, Switches and Klaxons. They also completed their first tour of the UK since the release of ''Ten New Messages'', including their biggest headline concert, a sold out show at Brixton Academy
Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...
.
On 22 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". In 2015 lead singer Alan Donohoe told ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' "Being in The Rakes was an insane rollercoaster, but singing the same songs for seven years got boring in the end. And if you're doing something just because you can't imagine an alternative then you're not really living."
Drummer Lasse Petersen has since joined Wolf Gang
Wolf Gang was a British alternative and symphonic rock band with Max McElligott as lead vocalist. Having played with different musicians, McElligott settled on a live set up in late 2009 which included Lasse Petersen (drums) previously of The R ...
.
Donohoe started a new solo project titled The Champagne Campaign and released the video for single ''Denis and Margaret'' in April 2013 before releasing the single for digital download on 13 May. However, the official website and Twitter account for The Champagne Campaign has since been taken down and the future of the project is uncertain. As of September 2015, Donohoe works for a Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
-based company as a software developer
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invo ...
.
Discography
Albums
* '' Capture/Release'' (2005)
* '' Ten New Messages'' (2007)
* '' Klang'' (2009)
EPs
* ''Retreat'' (2005)
References
External links
The Rakes interview on CC
First listen to The Rakes - 1989
PopMatters interview (November 2005)
The Rakes Fuel TV interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rakes, The
English indie rock groups
Musical groups from London
Post-punk revival music groups
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical groups disestablished in 2009
V2 Records artists
Dim Mak Records artists