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June 05, 2006
Missing since '89
Anyone who's been reading for a while will recognize this band, since I have a habit of talking about them every six months or so- because 1) they were amazing, and 2) I have no idea what happened to them. They played two big shows in Philly, opening once for Arcade Fire and once for Headphones, and then they disappeared. They released two records (a single, "In the Parking Lot", and a full-length on cassette, "10 Songs"), and were featured on a compilation for Black Squirrel Records (which may itself be defunct). Anyway, these are the only songs I have from "10 Songs", all of which were available from the band's website when it still existed.
It's like going over a waterfall in a barrel- 'Out Tonight' starts off as a leisurely, delicate thing: guitars chiming and commiserating over the "stale cigarette breath", the "hands made with Teflon". Then it starts to pick up a little- static hissing small whirlpools of turbulence that flank the chorus, "you and me/ we'll go out tonight", and suddenly the song switches gears entirely, and it's a freefall through wild torrents of bass, drums, yelling, and foamy siren-sounds. And, subsequently, a return to the calmness of the first part of the track. 'Out Tonight' reminds me of Ted Leo's 'Timorous Me' (one of his best songs ever, by far), just in the way it delivers such a joyful blast of melody and energy in the middle of the song- and like Ted Leo, Racecar know enough to exercise some restraint and leave it at that (just once), which just makes you want to play the song over and over again (not a bad indulgence, really). Plus, for whatever reason (and also like 'Timorous Me'), this song makes me think of a huge party, like a wedding reception or something similar, where everyone's smiling and dancing and happy either in their own right or in reflection of the atmosphere.
--If anyone has any info on the band's dissolution, let me know.
Posted by Kevin at June 5, 2006 12:08 AM