The Rakes Biography

One fantastic single catapulted The Rakes into the hearts and minds of right-thinking music fans in the mid noughties. 22 Grand Job saw The Rakes burst on to the London music scene, with its pithy punk satire of crappy entry-level office jobs.

Various stories swirled about how the band - which featured vocalist/guitarist Alan Donohoe, guitarist Matthew Swinnerton, bassist Jamie Hornsmith, and drummer Lasse Petersen - got together, ranging from elaborate tales of meeting on a flight to Amsterdam to the more plausible explanation of being childhood friends. The Rakes played a few local dates before unleashing 22 Grand Job, which was released as a limited-edition 7" by Trash Aesthetics, also the early home to Bloc Party. The single also appeared on the Fierce Panda compilation EP On The Buzzes.

The band spent that spring and summer recording and supporting like-minded acts such as Bloc Party, The Others, and Art Brut. In the autumn, The Rakes released their second single, Strasbourg, on City Rockers and embarked on their first tour. After signing with V2, the band rang in 2005 by gigging and working on their debut album. The singles Retreat and Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep) anticipated the released of Capture/Release in the U.K. in summer 2005.

The band's second album, Ten New Messages was released on 19 March 2007. The promotional campaign also saw the band play their biggest gig to date, headlining Brixton Academy$.