When it comes to a band like Rackets, it pays not to over think things. Mainly because when you listen to High Places, just one of their two debut albums, it doesn’t sound like they’re a band who spend a great deal of time over thinking things either. In fact it sounds like Rackets could endlessly write songs like this in their sleep; which must be depressing for a lot of musicians, because in spite of their brevity, ad hoc recording and at times suspect subject matter, these songs are great.
High Places is buoyed by its endless ability to sound fresh and exciting, moving from one blast of laidback punk to the next, always with a healthy dose of charm. It straddles a bridge between early Garageland and more current and, dare I say it, fashionable bands like The Drums and Surfer Blood. But rather than copying these influences Rackets almost invert them, stripping away any superfluity so they emerge as nothing but bare bones.
It’s something that is both a strength and a weakness for the band. They obviously don’t feel like they need a great deal of time to get their message across but with only one of the ten tracks breaking the two-minute mark, you feel like some of the material could do with being fleshed out further. It’s most likely why they released the album Friends alongside this one; because on its own, it falls just shy of quenching your metaphorical thirst.
Still, there is no denying that with High Places Rackets have created an album that you can play any time safe in the knowledge that you are going to have the most fun you can possibly have in 15 minutes.
