Slowly Slowly - Race Car Blues Chapter 2 (UNFD Records)

Australian pop punk band Slowly Slowly released their Race Car Blues album last year. In the wake of the current pandemic they have been able to release a further chapter to the album with the original album being released alongside Chapter 2. Apparently the songs on the new chapter were recorded at the same time as the original album.

If you like Placebo, Feeder, My Chemical Romance, R.E.M. and to a lesser extent The 1975, chances are you will enjoy the newly recorded album.

The album opens with the commercial 'Comets and Zombies', a rich guitar driven track which like the rest of the album does not deserve to be a B side which is what these songs on Chapter 2 were destined to be. The happy vibe of the song is in contrast to the lyric about a couple who share an addiction.

'Best Bit' is a heavier track which will sound great when the band are allowed to play live and hopefully get to the UK. A melodic romp that is one of the best tracks on the album.

The band don’t just do heavier numbers as 'Learning Curve' demonstrates, allowing light and shade the track shows the band in a mellower light. This is one of the tracks in particular that reminds me of Feeder.

'Restless Legs' is typical of the Slowly Slowly sound as singer Ben Stewart sings about a couple on the verge of a break up over a pop punk song, that dare I say, sounds slightly like Busted! Stewart had a knack of one minute singing angrily then changing to whimpering, but throughout it all he sounds sincere and he always gets his message across.

'The Level' is the song that first introduced me to the band: it sounds less angry than the other tracks on the album. The video sees the band dressed in 1970s attire. If there was to be a track to break the band via radio in this country then this is the song which would initiate that.

The album closes with 'Anywhere' where Stewart sings about his thoughts when he was 15 years old, a reflective track, it tells how he still has those dreams now.

All we can do now is dream that the band can leave Melbourne and get on a plane sometime to play some UK shows. My diary is open at the ready.



I rate the album 3 out of 5.