The Rakes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Country |  London, England |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Genres | Indie rock Art rock Post-punk revival |
| Labels | V2 |
| Members | Alan Donohoe - Vocals Jamie Hornsmith - Bass Lasse Petersen - Drums Matthew Swinnerton - Guitar |
The Rakes are an English rock band from London.
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[edit] General information
The Rakes formed at the start of the 2000s, taking their name from the fact that they are "skinny as rakes". Since coming to relative fame in 2005, they have been associated with the British post-punk/art-rock scene, a genre that lumps bands like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park, and The Futureheads in one convenient cluster. However, it could be argued that the Rakes originate from the east London/Whitechapel punk scene - along with The Others, The Libertines and Razorlight.
The Rakes write songs about working life, mundane routines, and escapism as shown on their acclaimed debut album Capture/Release that spawned the singles "22 Grand Job," "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)," and "Retreat." Several of their singles have appeared in the UK top 40 list and their album Capture/Release reached #32 in the UK Album chart. Their take on working life has led them to describe themselves as the world's first post-David Brent band. The "22 Grand Job" video shows them playing in an office environment - one of the main themes to their songs.
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 and Switches. Their London Astoria date sold out so far in advance that another London date - at Shepherd's Bush Empire - was added.
The Rakes are quite famous for their fashion sense, and the particularly distinctive dress style: stripey tops or smart polo shirts, black drainpipe jeans and black trainers. They also associated with the brands Fred Perry and Louis Vuitton. 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. 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". The song is fifteen minutes long, but a shorter version of it is used by the band in their live shows and will be included on their second album.
Their last single, "All Too Human", was released in the UK on February 27th and reached their best chart position to date. It was their first new material since the release of Capture/Release in August 2005. The Single enjoys the same name as one of Friedrich Nietzsche's books' entitled "Human, All Too Human" published in 1878 which is unlikely to be a coincidence as Alan Donohoe is rarely pictured without a book and is extremely interested in literature. The Rakes played at Trinity May Ball on Monday 19th June 2006.
They second headlined the NME/Radio 1 stage at 2006's Carling Weekend (Reading/Leeds festivals) - playing just before Maxïmo Park, the spot taken by The Futureheads at 2005's Carling Weekend. In 2006, they made a cover of the song "Le poinçonneur des Lilas" by the French singer Serge Gainsbourg, the song has the name "Just a Man With A Job". it was for an album cover "Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited" where a lot of bands took part ( Franz Ferdinand, Placebo ...).
The Rakes plan to release their 2nd album Ten New Messages through V2 Records in March 2007. They also announce their biggest ever UK tour. The album produced by Jim Abiss (Arctic Monkey’s, Editors, Kasabian) and Brendan Lynch (Primal Scream) was recorded in Mayfair Studios, The Chapel, and West Point in London in the autumn of 2006 and is the follow up to the bands debut Capture/Release August 2005.
On speaking about the album Alan Donohoe, singer of The Rakes said, ‘The album was inspired by a combination of choral music, the television show ‘24’, Bond theme tunes, World War 1 poets and the Sugababes’.
The Rakes tour the UK in March 2007.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK Singles Chart | Album |
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| 2004 | "22 Grand Job" | - | "Capture/Release" |
| 2005 | "Strasbourg" | #57 | "Capture/Release" |
| 2005 | "Retreat" | #24 | "Capture/Release" |
| 2005 | "Work Work Work (Pub Club Sleep)" | #28 | "Capture/Release" |
| 2005 | "22 Grand Job" (re-issue) | #39 | "Capture/Release" |
| 2006 | "All Too Human" | #22 |
[edit] Trivia
- "All Too Human" was named Single Of The Week by Jungalist.net on the day of its release, 27th February 2006.
- Alan Donohoe is a vegan and Jamie Hornsmith is a vegetarian.
- The whole band are peta2.com supporters and The band once turned down an ad campaign oppourtunity with Burberry [1] as they still use real fur in some of their products.
