The Rakes - Ten New Messages

There are few things more tragic than one of your favourite bands turning into a witless parody of themselves. On this, their (very) difficult second album, The Rakes have seen fit to abandon the urgency, passion and focus that made Capture/Release one of the best records of 2005. Gone are the glorious guitar hooks, the brilliant bass riffs - even Alan Donohoe's once charming and intelligent lyrics are delivered in a meandering, listless drawl and are peppered with cringe-worthy attempts at 'ordinary bloke' pseudo-poignancy. When Raxstar (plucked from MySpace obscurity by Donohoe) pops his head up to deliver a god-awful rap interlude on Suspicious Eyes, it becomes clear that this album is nothing less than a disaster. Even the best moments sound like a poor man's Franz Ferdinand. Back to the drawing board, boys. [Jay Shukla]