Articles Done on Racecar

Local Ska Band brings Audience to Life
By Sam Barnett Culturally speaking, unless you've been living under a rock for the past year or so you'd have realized by now that ska music is once again becoming a dominant force in the underground music scene.
For those of you who have no clue as to what ska music is, let me digress. It's origins can be traced to the late 1950's and early 1960's when many Jamaican groups were covering American R and B hits. Instead of merely playing carbon copies of these songs, though, the Jamaican artists added their own twist to the music, most notably in the rhythm. Whereas many of the popular R and B and rock n' roll songs have the rhythm accentuated on the first and third beats, resulting in the song having a jerky feel to it. Almost overnight, this style, referred to as ska, became a sensation. New performers came and went, many of whom produced only a record or two before disappearing into obscurity although a few artists did manage to achieve some international success, such as future reggae superstars like Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley.
In the late sixties reggae usurped ska as the dominant musical export from the Caribbean and it was not until a decade later that ska would once again return to favor. This time, the music was centered in England as displaced rude boys joined up with white skinheads (as you should know, the vast majority of skinheads are not racist thugs) to start what would become known as the "two tone" movement, the name stemming from the fact that most of the bands were multi-racial. This movement enjoyed a great amount of success throughout the eighties, although much of that success never spilled over into America.
Now, finally, America has become the center of the latest ska revival. It's influence has even managed to skank it's way into the world of corporate rock, with mainstream bands like No Doubt and 311 incorporating a few of it's elements into their own sound. Even in this region, which seems to be infested with Seattle wanna-be grunge/alternative bands, ska is alive and well. No where was this more evident than on April 4th at Valparaiso University when local heroes Racecar took the stage.
From the moment they hit their first note, Racecar once again proved themselves to be one of the most entertaining acts to come out of this area (Northwest Indiana) in a long time with their extremely danceable, ultra-melodic tunes. It's obvious that these guys (and girl) know their roots as the set they played boasted influences from both the good-time party ska of the Jamaican days and the social awareness of the two tone era.
"Racial inequality is bullshit" they proudly proclaim as the swarm of people near the front of the stage raised their fists in agreement. In fact, so powerful was this performance that even a temporary technical difficuly that halted them midway through the set couldn't kill the energy that this band was giving off. Most surprisingly, the audience was highly receptive of this energy. Speaking as a person who has both played and gone to shows in the Valpo area, this was the first time I had ever seen the local audience give everything BUT blank stares to the performers.
Who knows what the future holds for Racecar . It almost seems as if there is a glut in the number of ska acts currently performing around the United States today, and often the times in these situations many great bands become lost in the shuffle.
It would be a crime if a band like this didn't experience at least the smallest amount of success, even if it was limited to the world of underground music. If there is any justice in the world when the fourth wave of ska comes around, Racecar will be remembered in high regard. Below is an Excerpt of the article, "Seamless Transition Aid Performance"
By Sam Barnett Finally, it was time for Racecar and yes, they had more than a few minutes to play. Anyone who read the review I did about them last semester (above) knows how I great I think these guys (and now girls) are. In fact, they just keep getting better and better each time I see them. The addition of vocalist Megan Smith adds a great mix with smooth male/female vocals that can only be described as pretty darn dreamy. I must admit though, I have a weakness for female singers (especially cute ones) that is probably not too healthy, so I'm a bit biased.
Of course, their set featured all of the usual technical difficulties that present themselves at most local shows. Guitarist Brad broke a string and one of the horn mics kept feeding back, but that didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits. The audience was into it and almost everyone was up near the front of the stage dancing.
The only problem with that was the idiot (that would be me!) who decided it would be cool to body surf and ended up kicking a friend in the head with my steel toed boots. By the end of Racecar's set, most of the audience was up on stage singing along (if they knew the words) and dancing (if they didn't) while the band retreated to the emptiness of the sticky, dirty Crossroads dance floor.
With the exception of the kid who threw up in the bathroom, it seemed like a good time was had by all. If you haven't checked out Racecar yet, you're a fool and if you don't catch Nobody Home, well, then you'll be a fool.
Racecar and The Fuzz Factor The Fuzz Factor's Page will hopefully be playing a show on October 18th at the American Legion in Valparaiso. E-mail the Guy that wrote this!

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