the race

Rude Boy video (Mark Simon Hewis)



It all seems like such a long time ago now. Back in 2004, Dan Buchanan (voice, Casiotone and glockenspiel), Jessica del Rio (guitars and voice), James del Rio (guitars), Graeme Moorcroft (bass) and Andrew Aitken (drums) formed a band in their hometown of Reading. Things moved quickly. Their demo found its way into the hands of legendary Oxford indie Shifty Disco, who released two tracks from it as the band’s debut single. The record found its way onto Radio 1, 6 Music and XFM and the band suddenly found themselves playing festivals and supporting the likes of Supergrass and The Spinto Band. By the time their debut album ‘Be Your Alibi’ was released in 2006, they had won legions of fans and favourable reviews courtesy of NME and The Fly, among others.



Two years later they return with ‘In My Head It Works’. Produced by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers/Idlewild) it takes the band’s anthemic songs and gives them a stadium-sized sheen. Not that they’re intending to play Wembley any time soon. “These days we’re less interested in trying to appeal to the masses,” says Dan, the band’s ever-pragmatic frontman. “We have a little more experience and perspective on life in general and a clearer idea of who we are as a band, so we’re more interested in connecting with the people who seem drawn to the music we make. We’re not trying to please everyone.”



Musically, The Race are often likened to bands such as Arcade Fire and The National. Dan doesn’t necessarily disagree, but claims the band are “too skint” to listen to much contemporary music and says that the biggest influence on the band over the past couple of years has been a bit more straightforward. “Just two more years of life,” he says. “Not just the people around us that we love, but people and situations that have nothing to do with us, stuff that’s going on around the world both good and bad. The song ‘Gloves’ on the new album is about this. I work in a hospital and it’s a huge source of inspiration to me. Playing in front of crowds who love your music is ultimately a little pointless if there’s nothing else to you.”



This admirable attitude is something that characterises the The Race’s entire approach to the music business, or whatever’s left of it in 2009. Long-term fans of the band will feel even closer to ‘In My Head It Works’ as many of them helped to finance it after Shifty Disco set up a stakeholder fund and got people to buy the 1,000 units at £25 a go, in exchange for a share of the record’s success. This brave new approach seems so much more genuine than corporate sponsorship and other such shortcuts to stardom taken by most so-called indie bands today. “For me, that’s what it’s all about,” says Dan. “It’s having people come out to see us or buying our records because they have connected with the songs, not because they’ve seen an advert or have had our music shoved down their throats. That’s what we aspire to.”



And that’s exactly why The Race are a sound investment in so many ways.



Nathaniel Cramp, January 2009



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"endearingly awkward. couldn't be more triumphalistic if they soundtracked Brandon Flowers taking a unicorn for a victory lap round a paddock" NME



"the band are definitely firing on all cylinders, get into them now before everybody else does" Clash



"excellently executed. outshine other bands Dirty, subdued riffs, spindly chords. I listened in awe. contains a dirty penchant for the extrovert" Artrocker



"this band delivers. If the Pixies shacked up with The Arcade Fire and then threw in a bit of Bloc Party for good measure, 'In My Head It Works' would be the hybrid love-child. .twinkling, mesmerising with enough grunge sensibility to give this band the edge." RockSound



"As bold and big-hearted as The Waterboys in the Grand Canyon, it's vaulting ambition meets ruddy big choruses coming the other way. .roars majestically. Intriguing moments of punk interrupt" Channel 4, Planet Sound



"it's really very good. .the elegiac nature of the lyrics and the soaring guitars of the del Rios make this [an album] which owes a debt to many, from Arcade Fire to Simple Minds. If the race is on for successful rock with balls and brains, then it's already been won" AU



"Akin to Editors, Interpol and White LiesFloor-tom heavy with a rolling bass the guitars are alternatively choppy then floating on a Chameleons-like tide of echoing, chiming, glassy effects." Q



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I Get It Wrong Video (Alexander Browne)