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Given the admittedly derivative nature of Champaign, Illinois’ Headlights, it’s not what they do that distinguishes them as noteworthy, but the caliber at which they do it. They follow the indie-rock recipe, and it’s the equivalent of musical comfort food. On their 2006 debut, they tweaked the dramatic flair of bands like Stars and the Most Serene Republic with melancholy strings and tinny keyboards. With Some Racing, Some Stopping, they ace the tender country-tinged romps once reserved for M. Ward and Camera Obscura. Singers Erin Fein and Tristan Wraight coo and swoon with the best of them, always knowing the exact moment to sweep in over treading drums and soft acoustics so that your heart swells up like a balloon. That’s not to mention the onslaught of tightly wound melodies that could hold their own in a 60s revivalist contest against The Pipettes. They’re not exactly re-inventing the wheel here, but Some Racing, Some Stopping allows us to fall back into our old ways, without even feeling bad about it.
