2005 was a diamond year for indie pop music and I was totally immersed in great bands as I was at University in Leeds where the town was buzzing with loads of gigs and indie discos to frequent. Around this time bands like The Libertines were blazing the indie trail and out of this scene came many London bands trying to make the same indent on the music scene.
Lucky for us out of this came The Rakes who embodied the geek chic indie movement of the time. With lead singer Alan Donohoe leading the band with his straight talking London accent talking of nights out, working and just general everyday life to a catchy angular beat. It made us all fall in love. The first song to peak our interest was the infamous ’22 Grand Job’ which filled the dance floor at our favourite indie club the Bassment with this tune and its tongue in cheek lyrics about the life of the rich in London. This was backed by the kick of the drum beat and the jagged guitar that made us all move in a disjointed way across the dancefloor.
Off the back of this came the opportunity for me to catch the band for the first time supporting another band spawned by the Libertines success known as the Others. It was in Cockpit 2 where we wandered in to the band already on stage and tearing up the stage with Alan’s composure as lead singer holding the mic stand whilst he annunciated each word of the song. Even as I hear the songs now I am transported back to seeing the band in a time where people really were starting to dance to indie songs rather than bouncing and moshing!
Their first album ‘Capture/ Release’ was and is a perfect indie album that even now is a great look at London life and beyond. Album opener ‘Strasbourg’ will always be a favourite of mine as I can just see the skinny indie boy’s bodies jolting and convulsing on the dance floor to this song with its jerking guitar and Alan’s signature vocals regaling us about German life. ‘Retreat’ is also the best description of University and beyond with the best lyric ‘Everything is temporary these days, might as well go out for a fourth night in a row’. I suggest that after reading this you get out this album and listen again whilst dancing round your room!
The band did go on to release 2 albums after this in the form of ‘Ten New Messages’ in 2007 and ‘Klang’in 2009 which unfortunately did not have the same success as their first but still has songs of great merit on them. ‘The World Was A Mess, But His Hair Was Perfect’ has the same great spiked guitar edges and the crooning of Alan. ‘1989’ is also a great display of their awesome bass lines and guitar riffs beating alongside the tales of woeful Britain.
Unfortunately it then ended for the band in 2009 when they called it a day. But the hunger to listen to their music still lives on through the memories of our generation that moved and shaked along with Alan and on the dancefloors. If you hanker for more Alan Donohoe is on twitter and seems to be suggesting he is working on solo material so watch this space!
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