“Garage rockers without garages. Surf rockers who can’t swim.” That’s how local band Little Racer describes themselves, and as strange as it seems, it’s pretty accurate. For the past few years, the group has been blasting loud yet shimmery guitar riffs and groovy bass around the boroughs and up and down the East Coast. Little Racer celebrated their new EP, Foreign Tongues, earlier this month with a release party bringing together some of Brooklyn’s other borderline surf rock bands, including New Myths, Surf Rock is Dead and New Life.
Dressed in printed button downs, Little Racer filled up Union Pool with enough elbow room to move with the breezy tunes. Edger than your average surf rock band, Elliot Michaud, Ish Nazmi and Wade Michael make music that can survive a few miles off the sand in a back room in Brooklyn. The set was a mix of familiar and new, keeping a typically standstill NYC crowd dancing.
The short, but oh so sweet Foreign Tongues opens with “Montevideo”, capturing the angst you feel wanting more than your present situation. The recently released music video shows the bandmates smoking lots of cigarettes in jackets and ties chasing around the streets. Next in the mix, “Jack Knife” is more of a bear hug from an old friend. The lyrics go deep on loyalty, but the song still feels as light and airy as a boardwalk stroll. The catchy “Dreamers” slows things down a little and the EP ends with the dirty streets of Tijuana where it’s “half the price, everything’s half nice.”
Catch Little Racer for yourself for free next Thursday, August 6 at Niagara.
