On the evidence of their debut, Reading-based four-piece The Race have nothing to worry about but their terrible moniker. Be Your Alibi may well be one of the best things to come out of the Thames Valley since the famed festival. Home-town heroes for years, their frantic clash of guitars, duel vocals and stadium ambitions have made it to record at a time when Arcade Fire have claimed lordship of the indie scene. Though Be Your Alibi is nowhere near the quality of the Canadians’ masterpiece, The Race are certainly working off the same blueprint. At their best, such as on the bubble-riffed stirrings of ‘Comfort Comfort’ and the xylophone-tinged, euphoric rush of ‘When It Falls’, such lofty comparisons are afforded some currency.
Mind you, the opener ‘Find Out’ kicks off a duel opening of angsty Brit-rock numbers that, though of real quality, offer little indication that the record will soon morph into something altogether more ambitious. The urgency to rise above their peers takes hold on ‘Comfort Me’, and holds a steady stride through to the lilting ‘Research’ and anthemic ‘Raising Children’.
Be Your Alibi is no classic, but its better moments suggest we may have another Pablo Honey on our hands.