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Amazon.co.uk Review
The general turnaround on Ten New Messages is as unexpected then as it is gratifying, with the stunted punk instancy of old traded in for a complex mesh of tight rhythms, creeping criss-cross melodic patch-working and a more mature palette of influences all round. The band are on leaner form, no doubt, but it's the front of house work by Alan Donahue that's likely to pull in the silverware. His vocals themselves are more assured but it's the focussed narratives – tracking someone down in the immediate aftermath of the 7/7 bombings (the anxious, touching "When Tom Cruise Cries") and the racism that inevitably followed that day (the inspired, multi-protagonist "Suspicious Eyes") for instance – where he simmers tensions and tone with a skill that the frivolity of their debut just couldn't manage. Discard all old messages. Save new. --James Berry
Review
The Rakes have been threatening on their own website that Ten New Messages represents something akin to a concept album. Singer Alan Donohoe has even gone as far as to say that it's influenced by: 'a combination of choral music, the television show '24', Bond theme tunes, World War 1 poets and the Sugababes', One suspects that, pretty much like their legendary, self-mythologised beginnings, their tongues are firmly in cheeks, yet this return of the skinny London tykes does seem to have some very particular modern themes running through it.
Though the band's musical touchstones on their debut, Capture/Release, were the Clash and the Stranglers, they've now gone properly post-punk (along with the rest of the known universe) and angular chugging white-boy funk topped off with stirring guitar riffs is the order of the day. One could point to their resemblance to former mentors Franz Ferdinand and also The Strokes, but this lot are so up front about their magpie sensibilities it's impossible to use it as a complaint. They rock as well as anyone.
Produced by Jim Abbiss and Brendan Lynch, the album brims with catchiness, not least first single 'We Danced Together'. The songs build on the first album's themes of London leisure in the face of mind-numbing careers and endless commuting, but are here tinged with a darker paranoia, filled with references to edgy tube journeys ('Suspicious Eyes') and panic in the face of urban terror ('When Tom Cruise Cries')'. The lyrics remain witty, though one can't help feeling that anyone not resident in the UK capital might feel a little excluded by their everyday tales of life in The Smoke, no matter how many references to mobile phones you cram in.
So, a spunky second showing with a dark heart for the fashionistas' fave band. There's more to them than just designer labels! --Jerome Blakeney
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Customer Reviews
The brashness and punk ethic that encapsulated the likes of 22 Grand Job has pretty much disappeared, to be replaced by reflective, but utterly melodic, tunes.
At it's best it's brilliant. The likes of Down With Moonlight are sublime and there are a few tracks, like We Danced Together, that get better every time you hear them again.
The only real places when it gets a little too misplaced is on the likes of Suspicious Eyes, a game attempt to write a song relevant for these terrorist influenced times but one that falls flat. It's neither sharp enough lyrically, or memorable enough musically to convince. Similarly When Tom Cruise Cries is a game effort, but just not a very memorable song (seemingly exactly the same all the way through it's near five minute running time) and whilst the idea of song largely concerned with mobile phone signals being crap may sound interesting, Mike Skinner has already given us much wittier examples of how to do it properly.
So it's not a perfect record, and I can well imagine fans of their first album being very suspicious when they first hear it. Still, it is a good record which does improve with repeat listens.
First of all, how does this record compare with its predecessor (Capture/Release)? Whereas the first record was full of witty, 3 minute raucous punk-pop gems, the new record exudes more ambition, with a richer, fuller sound (think the production of 'Computer love off the first album, but with added vitriol). However, this hasn't, as far as I'm concerned, dulled the appeal of the group at all.
From the first track, 'The World Was A Mess.....' you can tell that the same primal thrill that you expect from a Rakes record remains. The spidery guitar backed with a rich bass and drums combination makes for appealing listening. The same is true across the board. A personal favourite being 'Trouble' - a richer, drum-fill-peppered 'Strasbourg' with an epic melody to boot. 'Supsicious Eyes' is a fine piece of topical observation, and the album ends with a fine, lolloping 'Leave The City and Come Home' - a truly epic end to the album - to just name the highlights off a pretty consistent album.
In conclusion, the Rakes still have tunes. It's just they have come armed with more than 3-minute punk-pop songs - ambition and greater sound depth. Approach with an open mind and don't expect it to be a carbon copy of Capture/release and you may be pleasantly surprised.
Fave tracks include: The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect,When Tom Cruise Cries,On A Mission,but they're all very good songs.The production is faultless,the musicianship top class,and the tunes very singable.
One of those albums to listen to again and again in years to come.
This is a distinctly average album - it's not bad but it's not good either. Read more
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