Vigorously touring indie-pop band Headlights sounds
more comfortable on its second album, Some Racing, Some Stopping: The tracks are dusty with the
sounds of breath and the space of the Illinois farmhouse where it was recorded.
Layers of guitar, synth, and drums float into fullness without the coy gleam
that, in retrospect, overcrowded the friendly songwriting of its first album,
2006's Kill Them With Kindness. Tristan Wraight and Erin Fein's vocals drive
melodies that initially seem like shiny distractions for kids, but give way to a
melancholy that can only come from adulthood—the lyrics dwell on silence,
landlords, and, on "January," how "time just marches on." "With your heart on
your sleeve," Fein sings on the title track, "there's no secrets you can keep
any more." That sounds more practical than cutesy, because Racing is built on things the
band didn't need to hide in the first place.