Boyracer
Insults & Insights EP
Kittridge Records

Once you find out that any band has been pumping out song after song like some kind of factory, it becomes worrisome to want to listen to anything new considering the hit and miss quality of similarly prolific artists like Billy Childish and The Fall. Thankfully, Stewart Anderson and his friends have concocted an EP that hits almost every time.

There is a charming lo-fi quality to this EP thanks to the thin (and sometimes thick) layer of noise that accompanies almost every track. Whether its the overmodulation of the vocals, a squall of radio static-like feedback, or a fuzzed out guitar, each song has a quality that helps it stand apart from the rest. This isn’t to say that the EP isn’t cohesive. What holds it all together are those lovely pop hooks sung and played by Anderson. As well, for all the breakneck speed of the majority of the tracks on here, it is nice to have moments of reprieve as in the gentle, acoustic driven “The Second Fiddle” and the disco beat that distinguishes “The Sadness In You”.

You also have to appreciate a band that knows when enough is enough. In a world where most bands are putting out double CD sets with almost all 80 minutes per disc filled with something, getting a disc of only eight short and sweet pop songs is relieving and inspiring. It doesn’t hurt that the eight tracks are so damn good too.