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RACES exists as a result of artistic rebirth and personal rediscovery, but it all starts at a point in Wade Ryff's life where motivation was at its most scarce. Disillusioned with music, beset with the bitter ending of a relationship with a real life witch, and faced with the overwhelming stagnation of being a 23-year old in the sleepy suburban outpost of Van Nuys, durring that time, Ryff wrote the pleading lyrics of ''Big Broom'' in the bathroom of his parents house. He explains the song's message as ''accepting that every ending is a new beginning, and even if we may have no control over when things are given or taken from us, we can always choose how to respond.'' Whether he realized it or not at the time, it would serve as a mission statement for a handful of musicians in the area who were also desperate for a new beginning. Breanna Wood, Garth Herberg, Lucas Ventura, Devon Lee, and Oliver Hild knew each other prior to joining RACES. Still, nothing could anticipate it all coming together for Year Of The Witch. What sunk in was the effortlessness of it all. Above all else was a chemistry that just couldn't be faked or brainstormed durring ''band business meetings.'' They attribute their work ethic to their humble surroundings, spending entire days honing their material in a Chatsworth studio because, well, what else are you supposed to do in the Valley? The fit with New York's venerated Frenchkiss Records was perfect - indeed, with RACES' ability to write such resonant and instantly ingratiating pop, it's no wonder the same label that houses Passion Pit, Dodos, and Antlers were such ardent supporters. At its core, there are plenty of sad songs and waltzes - ''The Knife,'' ''Walk Through The Fire,'' and ''All For You'' all have a melodic and lyrical directness befitting their origins as Ryff's solo work. But as Ryff admits, ''I didn't want to play music that's just a sappy guy on an acoustic guitar,'' and RACES flesh them out to swoon with dramatic grandeur and earthen rusticity behind Ryff's plaintive words. The ornate orchestration and vocal arrangements on the female-led counterpoint ''Don't Be Cruel'' in particular owe their origins to Herberg's background as a composer - he's the one who brings Ryff's Leonard Cohen fantasies to fruition, Quoth Ryff, ''he's our Brian Jones.'' But even with the speed at which Races are going forward, they haven't gotten complacent in the slightest - they're already working out new material for their next album, which they hope will intetgrate more of the electronic textures they've been experimenting with and won't be so much ''about a girl,'' as Ryff jokes. But their goals are still modest - Ryff puts it best: ''I'd rather get dropped and start back at the begininng than not have fun with these guys.'' It's a fitting mission statement for a band for whom every show feels as exciting as that very first one.
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