Klang

iTunes Review

Britain’s Rakes have much in common with new wave revivalists like Kaiser Chiefs and Maximo Park, a propulsive, high-energy outfit staying safely in the guitar/bass/drums realm but somehow finding new ways to interpret an old formula. Digging deep into ancestral roots (Gang of Four, Fire Engines) the quartet serves up jittery, hyper-driven percussion and guitars (“That’s The Reason,” “The Final Hill”) and can stomp out an insistent martial beat with ease (“Shackleton,” “Muller’s Racket”). They can be all sharp elbows and splayed rhythms  (“The Light From Your Mac”), or embody bouncy, sardonic, punk spirit (“You’re In It,” “The Loneliness of the Outdoor Smoker”). Vocalist Alan Donohoe is one of the finer purveyors of the current crop of retro-styled singers, able to leap from deadpan wit to shouty outrage without sounding theatrical.  iTunes Bonus track “Demons” and the single “1989” are delicious specimens of witty, wry, British pop-punk, and at album’s end, there’s only one question: why aren’t these guys huge in the U.S.?