Listening to the opening guitar riffs of World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect, the opening track of The Rakes’ sophomore album Ten New Messages, you could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of deja vu as we hit post-punk, Strokes-styled territory once again.  Full text...

The witty Alan Donohoe remains a better lyricist than singer, but this taut guitar pop only occasionally slips into emulation.  Full text...

Sit on Messages for a couple of weeks and one is sufficiently entertained, but there is another ominous message lurking beneath the bassline: a bubble is about to burst if a guitarist somewhere, somehow doesn’t do something original—quick.   Full text...

The Bloc Party album might be messy, but it has a vision: love is a salvation. On 'We Danced Together', The Rakes glimpse the same conclusion. But ultimately, 'Ten New Messages' is too myopic to see beyond its own concrete cynicism. Lying in the gutter, looking at the pavement; little wonder it's not their night.  Full text...

Clunky reportage from London's surrogate Strokes.  Full text...

Art-rock skinny boys sound the alarm but lose their charm on second album.  Full text...

Given the band's punchy but bland modern-indie sound, much of the blame must be laid at the door of singer Alan Donohoe, whose muttered delivery languishes in the limbo between nonchalant and ineffectual, as if thoroughly bored with his own small tales of dreary modern life.   Full text...