Altsounds - The Race - I Get it Wrong [Single]

“I Get it Wrong” is the first single to be taken from Reading five-piece The Race's sophomore album, 'In My Head It Works'; and it's three minutes of exactly how Editors wished they still sounded had they not become completely overcome with feigned earnest. There are elements of early Radiohead too; just under two minutes in and the guitar sounding like a car breaking down brings to mind Jonny Greenwood in ‘Creep’. Ed O’Brien claimed that was “the sound of Jonny trying to fuck the song up”, but of course everyone now knows it made the song. Now whilst I wouldn’t say the same here, it does demonstrate that The Race are thinking a little differently, and they too perhaps understand that pop music is at its best when its make up is smeared. “Correct me when I get it wrong” cries singer Dan Buchanan. Well there’s not much wrong here at all.

First b-side ‘Maisie’ is one of those rare songs where the verses are better than the chorus. They sound like The Cure at their most poppy, which seems to rub off on Buchanan as his voice now sounds a little like Robert Smith, where previously it was hard to draw any real comparisons.

Second b-side ‘Here I Lay’ struggles to follow what has gone before and sounds a little like Fields, not least in that it spends most of its time searching for a defining melody. That said, it does release its charms more with each listen; not least the contrasting vocals of guitarist Jessica Del Rio, and the fine drumming of Andrew Aitken.

Overall, 'I Get it Wrong' continues a very promising start for The Race. Let’s hope they prove to be a marathon and not a sprint.

http://www.myspace.com/raceuk