Portland, Oregon has been dominating news headlines these days for reasons that many cities would like to avoid. Despite the doom and gloom of a pandemic, wild fires and constant protests, the city is, believe it or not, a pretty vibrant place. If you want proof, just look at the music scene, which is burning brightly in the best kind of way, and specifically the hard-rocking self-titled debut from Rakes. Produced by Ezra Meredith and released on Deer Lodge Records, the album finds the band fronted by guitarist/vocalist Andrew Foster and vocalist Chelsea Walker taking their combustible live sound into the studio to bottle up some of that energy.
The band blasts off right out of the gate with “Long Road,” a loose and cranked up rocker with barroom harmonies that brings to mind the cow punk sound of acts like the Waco Brothers with a garage punk edge and a healthy dose of organ. “Carved in Bone” is a soaring rocker with organ embellishments to add to the sentimental feelings conveyed in the lyrics, while the rollicking duet “Dig Deep” layers a brass backing and a stampede of drums for a boogie soul sound. “Stay With Me” is a slower, swooning ballad that features some of the strongest vocal interplay between Andrew Foster and Chelsea Walker, and “3 Days” a trudging, bass-heavy tune that finds the band rekindling old feelings while accompanied by a sly keyboard solo. “’78” – an album standout – takes us back to the whiskey-soaked alt-country of the early 90s before “Don’t Know Why,” one of the loudest, most hard-charging and soulful rock duets on the album, urges you to turn your stereo system to eleven. Other highlights on the album include “Sinner” with its suspense-building rhythm and punk energy that feels like it might boil over at any moment, and the last track, “Whiskey Woman,” an acoustically picked number that is roughly recorded as if played onstage at a local dive. Despite the barrage of rock and roll the precedes this song, it manages to capture the intimate dynamic between the band’s two leaders and is a proper wind-down for the album.
It feels like there is less and less of wild-yet-melodic barroom roots rock these days, but Rakes happily dwell in this space. Their album is as much an ode to the good times as it is to the bad, and it is a loud and in-your-face reminder of the days when we could congregate together in a dimly lit dive and watch a band deliver a rowdy, uninhibited performance. The straightforward, free-wheeling rock and roll sound of Rakes is a testament to some of the really good things that happen in Portland, Oregon. Though the album doesn’t traverse any new musical terrain, it is a strong debut effort and provides the kind of escapism we could all use right now.
