track of the day ~ the racks ~ 'it's not me it's you'
Band Name: The Racks
Genre: Garage-Rock
For Fans Of: The Undertones, The Strokes, The Libertines
Location: Lisburn
A Libertines styled melody, wrapped in an Undertones package. Amazingly The Racks have taken the fairly straightforward original (Rudi, Ramones etc...) pop-punk sequence and managed to make it very interesting indeed. The beauty within this groove laden piece is in it's simplicity. There's no grand production here, and for good reason. You feel that anything more would have dismantled some of it's charm, while there's just enough jangly guitar to retain a spacial harmony Johnny Marr would have been proud of.
"It's Not Me It's You" is not a perfect recording. For one thing, it's surf-inspired vibes are no great innovation. Nor are the punky 'trying to sound louder than eachother in the final mix' guitars of the verse; and yet that doesn't seem to matter in the slightest. Upon hearing it for the first time, it's damn near impossible not to envisage hoardes of 60's teenagers dancing around their VW Camper Vans to it in the Summer sunshine. It's a feelgood, upbeat track, bursting with verve and sung with affection.
The Racks are living proof that bands need not turn to a high tech computer system to create great music. (Alt-J take note) Though you feel had this been released 30 years earlier, it would have been nailed on as one of this country's punk anthems.
Between The Racks and the already established Couth, Lisburns surf-punk movement is really starting to gather pace ~ and I for one, am all for it.
Taylor Johnson
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