Album of the week…

Explaining why Klang, the third full-length from the Rakes was recorded in East Berlin, Alan Donohue claimed that the London music scene is “like wading through a swamp of shit.”

Thankfully, the Rakes have managed to drag themselves out of that swamp, and away from the memory of their poorly received second album, with this release. No song outstays it’s welcome – the album clocks in at under thirty minutes and the longest track at less than three and a half.

There are no clumsy attempts to tackle the subject of terrorism here – Instead songs about house parties and warnings that “if you hang around bitchin’ in the kitchen, you’re not gonna have a good time.” Lead-off single 1989 finds Donohue taking inspiration from his new surroundings, visiting cemeteries in East Berlin and “half expecting to catch a sight / of the dead Russian soldiers marching into the night.”

Meanwhile The Light From Your Mac is an art-rock ballad which manages to overcome clumsy references to Apple products to become an album highlight, alongside the preceding track Shackleton and the lead singer’s anguished cries that “we’re all pawns baby, we’re all pawns.”

On album closer The Final Hill, Donohue sings that he’s “just had a revolution.” On Klang, though, his band have stuck to what they do best, and crafted a great collection of indie sing-a-longs, and it’s gratifying that while many of their post-punk contemporaries have fallen by the wayside, Donohue’s gang have succeeded in crafting their best set of songs yet.

7/10

Jed Howlett

PS; This album is actually out next week but with another album filling our March 22nd ‘Album of the week’ slot, and with half decent albums few and far between at the moment, the best you can do is get on amazon and pre-order this instead!