Get ready, cos The Rakes are back! Err… Yay?

Well, if they'd managed to construct a single with a pulse other than the dull-as-Dagenham monotony they've given us in 'We Danced Together', then it might have been cause for celebration. You know the kind of pulse I mean… what's it called… oh yeah, human. What happened to the vaguely interesting political references and funny dancing of their last record? It wasn't all that great, but it was more tolerable than this, wasn't it? You could hear the blood swimming through the veins with a little more zip; you could imagine that their songs were invested with a smidge of wit and guile. Not any more, it would seem.

Maybe that’s a little harsh. Maybe if this was on in a club and you were pissed within an inch of eating your wallet and on the verge of hilariously assaulting anyone with the nerve to be less intoxicated than yourself it might be fun. At least you wouldn't be able to hear the inane lyrics. "We didn't give a shit about what they would say" (though it's in reference to all the silly dancing, such broadly confrontational phrases extend to all who are listening) is a lovely excuse for all those bands that know deep down how dull they are. And if The Rakes don't give a shit about what I would say, then allow me to say this: 'We Danced Together' is derivative, flaccid, un-involving, and actually rather juvenile.