Album Review - Slowly Slowly – Race Car Blues Chapter 2
REVIEW BY: JADE GUIDA
Credit: Kyle Caulfield
Slowly Slowly have been there for me during the good times and the best times. There are no bad times with Slowly Slowly. This band can turn my whole day around. I can be doing something so mundane, like my morning commute to the station and I will hear Ben’s voice trickle through my car and the whole energy in my day shifts. This band is creates music that will shift the energy in your day. Slowly Slowly are such as personal band for me, they are something I share with two of my best friends. This band is a constant binding force that helps me feel connected to people I love.
Approaching ‘Chapter 2’ of anything should always be done with caution. No sudden movements, loud noises and absolutely no expectations. Well holy shit. I should have known, anything Slowly Slowly touches is pure perfection. I could have set the highest bar imaginable and they would exceed it. I could have sat down and maxed out the volume from the opening track and been met with an undeniable and inexplicable music experience. There are no filler tracks. No mediocrity in sight. Every song a unique and perfectly curated example of why this band sits in the elite tier of Australian Musicians.
Any Slowly Slowly fan who listens to this release will inevitably wonder why the songs didn’t make it on to Race Care Blues. I sat with this for a moment. Some of the tracks would have slotted in perfectly. I mean some easy swaps could have been made with the track listings, Comets and Zombies for Suicidal Evangelist. On first listen this really sort of ate away at me. It was just this little niggle in the back of my mind. Why? Why distribute the tracks in this way.
That my friends, is the magic of Slowly Slowly. They are curators of perfection. These songs could have been split any way and the listening experience would have been good. They managed to split these songs in such a way to make a the listening experience an explosion of emotion and a beautiful journey across two separate yet inextricably intertwined albums.
Chapter 2 is a space for growth. It is the ability of this band to push musical boundaries to create a sound that is uniquely their own while also pushing the walls out on what their sound actually is. I am always pleasantly surprised when listening to a new song because it is unmistakably Slowly Slowly but it is also unlike anything I have heard before. Sonically and lyrically these musicians are pushing boundaries and they straddle the line of deeply uncomfortable.
Love, Drug addiction, miscarriage, suicide. There is no hiding in Chapeter 2. I think often Race Car Blues is mistaken as party rock songs and I have seen a lot of discussion on how this differs so greatly. I feel that RCB was equally as confronting in its own ways. If you sit and pick a part RCB and Chapter 2 you just have a beautifully diverse pool of songs. They are emotionally charged, sonically pleasing and overwhelmingly addictive.
Sure, this is sort of a B-Side album. There are some rough edges, some imperfections but my god I love it all the more for this fact. I like the imperfections, the slight ambiguity in what appears to be some unfinalized lyrics. I love that a release that explores hard times and life in all its fractures and imperfections is also imperfect. Tackling heavy topics, blending elements of various genres shows confidence in writing and curation. The rough edges on this release make it confronting but I guarantee it is worth pushing through.
'Race Car Blues - Chapter 2' Is Out Now Via UNFD
Stream It In Full +
Order 'Race Car Blues Extended Edition' LP collection now:
unfd.lnk.to/RCBExtended
'RACE CAR BLUES – CHAPTER 2'
TRACKLIST:
1. Comets & Zombies
2. The Best Bits
3. Learning Curve
4. Low
5. House On Fire
6. The Internet
7. Restless Legs
8. First Love ft. Yours Truly
9. Set The Table (The One That Got Away)
10. The Level
11. Small Talk
12. Anywhere
2021 TOUR DATES
~ RACE CAR BLUES AUSTRALIAN TOUR ~
TICKETS
Friday June 4 - Manning Bar, Sydney, NSW
Saturday June 5 - The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD
Friday June 11 - 170 Russell, Melbourne, VIC
Sunday June 13 - 170 Russell, Melbourne, VIC
Friday June 18 - Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide, SA
Saturday June 19 - Badlands Bar, Perth, WA
Friday June 25 - Altar, Hobart, TAS
Saturday June 26 - Saloon Bar, Launceston, TAS
~ ALSO APPEARING AT ~
Wednesday March 24 - Live At The Bowl, Melbourne, VIC
w/ Ocean Alley, Maddy Jane + The Grograns
Saturday June 12 - Full Tilt Festival, Brisbane, QLD
&
Saturday July 3 - Full Tilt Festival, Melbourne, VIC
w/ Northlane, Hands Like Houses, In Hearts Wake, Thy Art Is Murder,
Luca Brasi + more
