RAIKES – EP REVIEW


Raikes – The Talk EP 

Raikes - The Talk EP

Release Date: Out Now

There’s only one thing better than discovering a great new band and that’s discovering a great new band that live within spitting distance of where you live. This EP from Liskeard lads Raikes has been around for a little while but I’m only just getting around to it now so, y’know, sorry about that. Opening up with the intricate guitar interplay of title track ‘Talk’ there are tones of Radiohead and Ride in that gentle, introspective indie style that comes out of the small town living in the UK (which out for the kick though, this one’s got a real kick). ‘Home’ is up next and has a more homespun folky vibe to it with soft vocals and that intricate guitar work once again before some strings give this a swell and then there’s a triumphant splash as they sing,  “This is our home, the sun it always warms my bones”.

On ‘Fault’ the band channel Travis at their peak but with a greater sense of purpose and when the chorus kicks in you really know about it – the guitars soar and the vocals strain to within an inch of going out tune without ever going out of tune. This collection closes out with ‘Matador’ and while Raikes are minimalist when it comes to song titles their music is the exact opposite. With that soft vocalled intricate start a feature again, the song soon builds in to some expansive, horizon scanning swell which brings to mind the likes of Contact Mo, Feeder and Elbow. Raikes seem to have harnessed the power, beauty and energy of the Cornish landscape and somehow fed it down the various microphones and mixers to produce this EP. A powerful and heady mix if you’re up for it.


Live Dates:

14th April – The Tamar Inn, Calstock
22nd April – BBC Introducing @ Porthleven Food Festival, Porthleven
1st June – Finn McCouls, Falmouth
1st-3rd June – BBC Introducing @ Great Estate Festival
9th June – Star Inn Ale & Music Festival, Vogue
23rd June – Bar 35, Bude
6th July – Studio Bar, Penzance
7th July – Bridge On Wool, Wadebridge
21st July – Lafrowda Festival, St Just
10th-12th August – Lover Summer Festival, Plymouth
18th August – Ploughman’s Festival, Liskeard

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