The Rakes were one of the rash of second-wave post-punk influenced British guitar bands that appeared in the earlier years of the noughties. As we approach the decade's end, with a lot of their contemporaries having fallen by the wayside, they are now back - after a two year hiatus - with this, their third album.And it's an album that shows an absence of evolution, or failure to "mature", that I cannot quite work out if I find a little depressing or strangely admirable. Anyone with a passing acquaintance to their previous releases will find themselves immediately back on familiar territory. So we have lots of songs that reference booze and fags, like 'Bitchin' in the Kitchen', at a party where "We done all your vodka and coke", forthcoming single '1989' where "The bars were full / There was no closing time", culminating in the heroic declaration-slash-personal manifesto, in the excellent 'Shackleton': "Dear god, I will drink and I will smoke / Like no man before me has, or ever will". This is, indeed, probably the perfect band to do a post-smoking ban song: 'The Loneliness of the Outdoor Smoker', which gains extra points for the smart literary pun in its title.Another key lyrical concern is the perennial twentysomething theme of "pulling" (roughly speaking, for our American readers: "hooking up"), the main theme of the entertaining 'The Light From Your Mac' which sees our smooth-talking hero attempt to seduce by using arguments like "It's so fucking grim out there, let's hibernate" and "Just don't show me the fuckin' futon".Much fine use of the vernacular is made, with f-bombs detonating all over the place. It's not particularly big and clever, but it is appropriate, and doesn't feel gratuitous or "for effect", simply how you might hear actual conversations on these themes taking place in pubs, gigs and workplaces around the UK.Musically the tracks are generally short, which ties in with their jerky, staccato post-punk-iness. A lot of the time they sound as if they have been recorded in one take (particularly 'The Loneliness of the Outdoor Smoker', 'Bitchin' in the Kitchen' and 'The Final Hill') which gives them an added immediacy and urgency.At the album's end, though, I must admit to being left disappointed by the lack of development. This is obviously a smart band, with a strong sense of time, place and their sound. It would be a shame to see them simply reusing their same template (distinctive and with much to offer as that template may be) for ever after. Songs about boozing, smoking and pulling are harder to pull off over a certain age, and - whilst they have just about carried it off this time, on balance - it will be interesting to see where they take things from here. They certainly have the savvy and the songwriting intelligence, on evidence so far, to perhaps.... maybe even surprise us a bit, next time round? 70% The Rakes on Myspace