Let’s rewind to 2005—when skinny ties, angular riffs, and post-punk revivalism were the indie kid’s holy trinity. And Capture/Release, the debut album from The Rakes, was the sharpest blade in the drawer.
Released on August 15, 2005 via V2 Records , this London quartet dropped a record that felt like a caffeine-jacked sprint through the city’s underbelly. Think: pubs, clubs, sleep-deprived commutes, and the existential dread of your first office job. It was all there—wrapped in wiry guitars, twitchy drums, and frontman Alan Donohoe’s deadpan yelps.
But let’s talk about “Binary Love.” One of our all-time faves. A track that somehow made digital yearning sound romantic. It’s got that robotic pulse-meets-human ache thing going on—like if Franz Ferdinand and Kraftwerk had a little brother, raised on Red Stripe and existentialism. Still sounds like a glitchy love letter from the future.
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Other standouts? “22 Grand Job” (a 1:46-minute anthem for the underpaid), “Retreat” (a dancefloor panic attack), and “Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)”—which basically was the millennial moodboard before moodboards were a thing. Late Gen-X too—we were right there, bridging the analog and the algorithm.
And we lived this era. Our 20s were spent dancing, drinking, and dressed up from NYC to LA to London—just like the lyrics to “Retreat.” That line about “going out again on a Thursday night” wasn’t just a lyric—it was a lifestyle. We were there, eyeliner smudged, collars popped, chasing the next beat and the next bottle.
Produced by Paul Epworth (pre-Adele, pre-epic Grammy sweep), the album was a lean, mean 11-track machine. It clocked in at just over 34 minutes and never overstayed its welcome. NME named it one of the best albums of 2005, and it still holds up—sweaty, stylish, and just a little bit sad.
💿 Tracklist: Capture/Release
- Strasbourg
- Retreat
- 22 Grand Job
- Open Book
- The Guilt
- Binary Love
- We Are All Animals
- Violent
- T Bone
- Terror!
- Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)
🎸 Band Lineup (2005)
- Alan Donohoe – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Matthew Swinnerton – lead guitar
- Jamie Hornsmith – bass
- Lasse Petersen – drums
📈 Chart Performance
- UK Albums Chart: Peaked at #32
- Scottish Albums Chart: Peaked at #70
- UK Singles Chart: “All Too Human” (bonus track on reissue) peaked at #22
ICYMI: The Rakes disbanded in 2009, but Capture/Release remains a time capsule of mid-2000s indie rock and dancefloor catharsis. And in a world of algorithmic playlists, it’s a reminder that sometimes, the best kind of love is still binary.
For Shits and giggles visit the official Rakes website over at The Rakes – Dance To The Rhythm Of Your Heart
Did Capture/Release soundtrack your Thursday nights too? Still spinning “Binary Love” in your head? Drop your fave lyric or memory below—let’s dance and get ready like it’s 2005.
