Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks is a neo-post-punk kind of thing. The musical stream of consciousness that is The Rapture seems to flow from the wellspring of acts like PIL and Television -- bands that saw the burned out cavity left by first-wave punk bands and filled it with something pop-like. The Rapture embraces a stark, angular vision of pop, blending elements of dance music with fuzzed-out, stripped-down rock. The band's highly developed sense of melody can be heard in disparate layers of their music, from the agile basslines to the catchy yet shrewish vocals. While this album is short, it's also sweet -- 20 minutes of loose, groovy dirtiness.
On the strutting, slightly disco title track, vocalists Luke Jenner and Matty Safer screech the lyrics in unison. The phrase "punishment in higher places" is bellowed ad nauseum at the end of the song. While "Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks" reminds me of PIL, "Modern Romance" is more declamatory. It's also looser, with a sprawling, almost improvisational form. The lyrics are utterly unintelligible, except for the oft-repeated "come together", but that's okay -- the tune is more about attitude and swagger than message anyway. "Caravan", perhaps the disc's most notable song, isn't a cover of the Duke Ellington standard. It's a loud/soft, fast/slow, thick/thin, tomato/tomahto song, alternating between bombastic, pounding instrumental sections and quiet, sparse sections with a distant voice ranting "Caravan, caravan, caravan..."
Truth-in-advertising enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that "The Pop Song" is, in fact, the poppiest (as in catchiest) song on the album. Although the vocals sound like a cat with its tail in a blender, "The Pop Song" really is, at its core, shiny, happy pop, suitable for filling the smoking craters left by the current wave of burnt-out punk bands.
