What Did I Miss?

I never really got into The Rakes and I'm not particularly sure why. They came about in that great year of British indie rock with Bloc Party, Futureheads, Maximo Park and all the rest but my awareness of them somehow got affected and I never heard the first album.

News of their new album therefore, you might think, wouldn't excite me that much, but after being sent a song off of Klang, "The Light From Your Mac", my ears have pricked up considerably. Alan Donohoe's deep, drawling vocals weave their way all over the top of this track whilst an infectious bass riff worms into your head, and jangling guitars that haven't been heard since Good Shoes were still playing gigs make for a jerking, flailing chorus.

One major part of The Rakes appeal that I actually did pick up on before this track were the lyrics, and they're still just as brilliant - the pick of a good bunch has to be "Yeah you probably had some bad advice, but your flatmates aren't that bright, and one's got a moustache, and she talks a lot of shite". There's just something about this track that pushed its way into my helpless brain from the first time I heard it, and I'm hoping you'll suffer just the same as me.

The Rakes - The Light From Your Mac (YSI)