The Rakes + Chris Chinchilla
January 20th, 2006 @ Brixton Windmill

Much has changd for The Rakes since our paths last crossed - back then they were playing a night organised by tonight's support act Chris Chinchilla, and his former Art Brut bandmates to a half-full venue. In the intervening period, they've signed to V2 records, become regular fixtures on MTV2 and in the national press, and even scored an indie disco hit with '22 Grand Job'. Tonight they play a warm up for their UK tour, including a sold out date at the Astoria. The venue is the comparatively pokey Brixton Windmill, home of many of their formative gigs, and there's barely room here to breathe.

In a way this clamour to see these rising stars is a shame, as it takes the spotlight off of another potentially monumental performance taking place tonight - the re-emergence of ex-Art Brut guitarist Chris Chinchilla and his new solo project.

Since leaving the band last year, Chinchilla has persued a number of projects, playing DJ sets, promoting a number of bands, and most intriguingly getting involved with an unusual instrument called the Bradford Bahamas, which generates sound using the radiation produced by old computer monitors. Tonight's gig, however is one of a string of dates to introduce his new solo material. Starting off bravely with a spoken word poetry reading, Chris' charming, slightly nervous disposition soon wins over anyone that needed winning over, and a number of songs featuring Chris alone on vocals and guitar showcase a combination of warm, witty, whimsical tracks, and deeper, more poetic material, interspersed with further spoken word pieces.

As the show progresses, he seems more and more at ease alone on stage, at times appearing lost in his own music, semi-oblivious to a crowd full of goodwill for these amiable compositions. The highlight of the set comes in the last two tracks, where Chris is joined by Rhesus' Jim & Arran on bass & drums, performing tonight under the name of the DIY Castrati. These final songs up the tempo and the volume, producing fuller sounding songs, and allowing the band a chance to rock out.

A promising start then, and it will be interesting to see how things develop from here on.

The Rakes' arrival onstage spurs a surge forward from the crowd, and from the first note to the last, the energy in this rammed venue doesn't drop for a second. Lesser known album tracks 'We Are All Animals' are met with just as much enthusiasm as the singles, and the frenzy of the crowd is equalled by the manic twitching and gesticulating of frontman Alan Donohoe - somewhere between Jarvis Cocker and Ian Curtis - and his disturbing thousand yard stare.

The songs rattle along at breakneck speed, propelled by jerky riffs and a tight rhythm section, topped off by Donohoe's vocals, glorying in cockney intonation and dropped t's and h's.

Tonight's gig is a celebration of a local band taking their first steps towards national recognition, and at the same time a recognition of a place that has given them a leg up on the way. I can't imagine that the Astoria gig will be able to match tonight's show for atmosphere, energy or passion.

www.therakes.co.uk / www.myspace.com/therakes: Watch The Rakes' video for 'Retreat'

www.chinchilla-music.co.uk / www.myspace.com/chrischinchilla: Listen to 'Ex Beauty Queen'

Review & Photography by Paul Madden