Erin Fein (vocals/keyboards), Brett Sanderson (drums), and Tristan Wraight (vocals/guitar/bass) formed Headlights in 2004 following the demise of their former band, Absinthe Blind. Their first EP, which was available solely via mail order and picking up a copy as the band toured, sold out in mere months. In 2005, Headlights signed onto Polyvinyl Records after extensive touring and their debut LP The Enemies EP. In 2006, Headlights released a split with Most Serene Republic and their own sophomore album Kill Them With Kindness. Straying from the band’s earlier works, Headlights’ newest release, Some Racing, Some Stopping, lacks the space-like atmospheric sounds in favor of a classic pop sounds that almost belongs in the 1960s.
The album kicks off in a bright, light, and airy manner with beautifully blended and well-crafted pop melodies. The middle of the record slows down considerably and takes on a slightly darker tone. The somber tone of songs such as “January” and the album’s title track cannot detract from Fein’s gorgeous vocals. Track 8, “Catch Them All,” perks the record back up infusing it with kicky harmonies by both Fein and Wraight. The entire album is beautiful and cohesive due to the band’s simplistic approach this time around: “It can really exhaust your ear if there’s a huge amount of stuff happening all the time, and that’s one of the things that we learned on Kill Them With Kindness,” says Wraight. The album was not recorded in a studio space, which allowed Headlights to write and record at their own pace, an effort which has paid off greatly in the form of a smart, tight, indie pop album.
To promote Some Racing, Some Stopping, Headlights will be touring through the beginning of April with the help of friends Nick Sanborn and Kenny Seibert (both of Decibully) and John Owen (Shipwreck), as well as a rotating cast of friends to help with the odds and ends that fill out the album. Find tour dates on Headlights’ website.
Be sure to snag a copy of Headlights’ Some Racing, Some Stopping in stores Tuesday, February 19, 2008 via Polyvinyl Records.
Headlights: website | myspace
Polyvinyl Record Co.: website | myspace
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