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Fake Ray are a three piece London band who released their debut single The Fumes Are Deadly last year. And it wasn't bad either. Opening with a thumping drum and almost hysterical vocals before gliding into an altogether more melodic chorus, it showed a lot of promise. However, one of the other tracks on the CD, I Was Already Dead, was even better. It had a nice loose, thrashy feel to it, and reminded me of the sadly forgotten late 80's Velvets influenced UK band the Perfect Disaster in one of their louder moments. In fact, this song rocked, and to top things off, there was an excellent angular guitar solo in the middle. There was also another track on the disc, Fortune Smiles, that was an altogether quieter and more atmospheric piece. With two sets of vocals playing off each other, it suggested that maybe there was also more to this lot than meets the eye.
Anyway, here eventually, is its follow-up single, Star Maps, which is another one that rocks. Actually, it reminds me of Placebo's rather under-rated The Bitter End single, sharing as it does that driving beat, keen sense of melody and a similar sense of urgency to the vocals. Not bad at all. The other track here, Sister Rita, is a live recording, which opens with a bass line not a million miles away from Joy Division. It also boasts a pretty decent chorus and some neat '60s guitar playing that brings to mind records like The Small Faces' In My Mind Eye. OK, I don't like either of these new tracks as much as I Was Already Dead, and it seems like Fortune Smiles was something of a one-off for now. Still, this is a damn good single all the same.
From Fake Ray's website, it's apparent that they don't seem to be able to find their way out of London too often, so unless you live there I wouldn't build your hopes up of seeing them any time soon. But personally speaking I'd certainly want to hear what their next step is...
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