The Rakes, Sky Larkin and Official Secrets Act (Live)

This is another review i was asked to do by Brighton Calling.

Official Secrets Act - So Tomorrow

Visitors to the Concorde 2 on Tuesday 21st April might well have been quite excited by all three bands on the line-up at this gig. Official Secrets Act filled the opening slot and garnered a surprising lack of attention or attendance considering their fantastic recently released debut album. Those ticket holders not wishing to look unfashionably keen won't have been too disappointed to miss them after experiencing the ear shredding noises being emitted from the Concorde's normally excellent sound set-up. All the high pitch frequencies mashed together to create an assault on the ear-drums akin to that of a brick going through a food processor. Attempting to pull the band's true sound from the debris becomes extremely hard when OSA's frontman often wanders into this frequency range with both his voice and squealing guitar play. They have a good amount of energy and the lively synth and bass partnership power through to remind the listener that this band has several great songs and are just the victims of poor sound, hopefully one of their shows at the Great Escape will reveal a live set that reflects the quality of their recorded output.

Sky Larkin - One Of Two

Sky Larkin have been gaining column inches in music publications recently and have just finished a tour of America making this is their first gig supporting The Rakes. For the uninitiated, Sky Larkin are two thirds of a typical three piece rock band, the bassist sleepily swaggers around with a practiced nonchalance while the drummer pounds away with stick-snapping ferocity. The final third is a quirky female guitarist/vocalist who anchors the band and steers them away from cliche rock territory by replacing sweaty, testosterone-fueled guitar thrashing with a refreshingly cute female touch. They're not doing anything new but they're taking something old and performing it differently, they're the least affected by the sound problems but fail to inspire the crowd, something that's proving to be a recurring feature of the night.

The Rakes - 22 Grand Job

By the time The Rakes arrive on stage attendance has reached its maximum for the night - three quarters full - upsettingly low for a band who have achieved such success during their career and are touring a new album. How enjoyable this gig is hinges on when you became aware of The Rakes. Their early fans will be pleased to hear a hefty inclusion of songs from Capture/Release and few from the weaker Ten New Messages although the men look a lot older and more tired than the four boys full of rebellious punk energy that they used to be. Those that joined the party on the second album are unlikely to have expected the drunken Ian Curtis style shuffling of Alan Donohoe or the exclusion of 'When Tom Cruise Cries' from the evening. New fans would be satisfied with the mix of old and new songs but disheartened by the lack of effort the rest of the band put into playing them. The encore is more promising as they all really throw themselves behind final song 'Strasbourg' but predictably '22 Grand Job' goes down far better than anything they've released since. It seems some things have changed since The Rakes first voiced the feeling of restlessness that so many felt in 2005, not least that bands who rose to fame at the same time (like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand) have produced two better albums subsequently. Some things, however, have stayed the same and in these times of high unemployment a 22 grand job in the city is most certainly still 'alright'.

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