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Headlights: Some Racing, Some Stopping

07th March 2008 | by Aidan Williamson

You hate to see it, a band begin their life edgier than Devil's Tower. Then, like a knife dragged along a brick wall they end up as sharp as a maths teacher's cardigan.

After crafting a sleeper hit in the form of 2006's "Kill Them With Kindness" this Illinois trio have followed their contemporaries - Rilo Kiley - down the path of musical complacency. Gone completely are the string quartets, the piano takes a backseat as do the many-a-varied instruments that littered their debut with intrigue. Instead, they've entered the realm of standard drum/bass/guitar/boy-girl vocals that populate the music industry like Mogwai during an post-midnight rain-swept banquet.

The sad part is that they are quite proficient at this new formula, “On April 2” has the vocal power to transport you back to 60's discotheque where a raft of smoke fills the air, like a localised version of the earth's atmosphere, beneath which Go-go dancers entertain the patrons. Title track “Some Racing, Some Stopping” meanwhile goes decidedly low-key for a bare bones lament that injects 10ml of depressants and 15ml of anti-depressants directly into your cranium.

Other songs on the album behave like a tiny kitten mewing for attention. As soon as your finally notice the quiet cries and bend down to comfort her, she flees panic-bound into the shadows. They simply have little capacity to drawn and sustain your attention, despite their cutesy appeal and obvious outward beauty.

Headlights' sophomore album's appeal as a single-serving musical experience is unparalleled. If you rarely feel the need to place music under the microscope, this'll likely prove to be a welcome distraction for you. What is certain is that the album's title does not refer to the listener's heart rate. Unless they happen to be experiencing it as they plummet from the aforementioned Devil's Tower that is.

Rating:  5 / 10