The Race – Exiles (Music Review)
By Andrew Duncan • Nov 28th, 2009 • Category: Categories, Electronic, ReviewsThe Race
Exiles
St. Ives
Rating: 4 out of 5
Do we live in a predominately re-hashed world? Have we gotten past the “blasts from the past” antics and moved on or are we stuck in an ever-ending loop of retro-rehashing? Although many bands spend so much time trying to replicate, there are still many bands who can somehow push the music beyond.
While on the surface, my immediate reaction to Exiles is stereotypically “my God, is this Depeche Mode?” There is much more than the low-drawl crooning and electronic thumpings that The Race accomplishes so well. And they are sneaky at doing it — real sneaky. You put on a song like “Ride The High Country” and everything seems okay. But before you know it, you are trapped in their electronic web and spiraled in an uncontrollable dance frenzy.
The title track sounds like a night binge on Pink Floyd while “Black Boat” is a thrashing of pounding beats and howling lyrics, all an ode to their black van.
What really sends Exiles into a fit of aural ecstasy is the way the band can flawlessly transcend a song from one plane of thought into a heightened awareness of electronic orgies and mind exploding synth-dance club romps.
The beats bore holes into your mind, the sampled synth rumblings taunt you, and the rhythms constantly keep things moving forward like a steam train with no track.
This is a band in which you have to stay with the song to experience the full effect of the ride. And oh what a ride this is!
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Andrew Duncan is a journalist who has migrated to the forces of academia. He has written for various publications including Chord, Heckler, Readyset...Aesthetic, and a vast array of alternative press contributions. When not roaming the streets of Indianapolis, he is either addicted to KXCI, making music, or striving to watch every film listed on IMDB.
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