The Rakes

The Rakes
The Rakes at the Wireless Festival, 2005
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Indie rock, art rock, art punk, dance-punk, post-punk revival
Years active	2003–2009
Labels	Dim Mak Records, V2 Records
Associated acts	Wolf Gang, Champagne Campaign
Website	Official website
Members	Alan Donohoe Jamie Horn-Smith Lasse Petersen Matthew Swinnerton
Past members	Toby Green

The Rakes were an English indie rock band from London who had a string of top 40 singles and albums in the mid-2000s. They formed in 2003 and broke up in October 2009.

The Rakes formed in 2003. Their debut album, Capture/Release, spawned the singles "22 Grand Job", "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)", and "Retreat". Several of their singles have appeared in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart and Capture/Release reached No. 32 in the UK Albums Chart. The final single release from Capture/Release, "All Too Human", was released in the UK on 27 February 2006 and reached their best chart position (No. 22).

The Rakes' second album, Ten New Messages, was released by V2 Records on 19 March 2007. This album was produced by Jim Abiss (who has also worked with Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Kasabian) and Brendan Lynch (who has worked with Primal Scream). It was recorded in Mayfair Studios in London during the autumn of 2006.

The band's third album, Klang, was recorded at Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin in a studio that was the former East German government's centre for radio broadcasts.

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, Young Knives, Switches and Klaxons. They also completed their first tour of the UK since the release of Ten New Messages, including their biggest headline concert, a sold out show at Brixton Academy.