headlights: live in nyc

How much do I love this band?

I got the chance yesterday to see current faves Headlights play Union Hall in Brooklyn. I’ve been playing their latest album, Some Racing, Some Stopping, daily, and I was looking forward to getting to see the band live. They did not disappoint: bumped up from a trio to a 5-piece, the group didn’t just replicate the sound of the record, they improved on it. Songs were ragged and nervy, rocketing forward full-throttle like a heavily-caffeinated Field Mice. “Market Girl” was a particular treat — on record it’s brisky and breezy, but live it felt absolutely insistent, yanked along by a commanding backbeat. The band was jubilant onstage — they never stopped moving. When she wasn’t leaning hard into sweeping keyboard lines, Erin Fein was double-time soul-clapping in time with the speeding tempos. The whole experience deepened my love for them, and my belief that Some Racing will end up one of the best records of 2008.

I got the chance to interview the band pre-show for a profile we’ll be featuring on eMusic in a few weeks. Though they’d been inching through nightmarish traffic for three solid hours (during a NJ-to-NY trip that should have taken 30 minutes), they were incredibly gracious and good-natured. I quickly learned that the band loves being on tour. They spent the better part of 2006 and 2007 on tour (one stretch ran a mind-boggling 72 consecutive days), and they’re midway through a 5-week jaunt. They weren’t weary or jaded or burned out in the least — they talked about the coming weeks with a mixture of anticipation and genuine enthusiasm.

Which doesn’t mean the trips have been without their dramas. “We got pulled over by the border patrol in Texas,” Erin said. “Actually, we’ve gotten pulled over several times in Texas. I mean, we’re driving a van from out-of-state with big, tinted windows… It was actually kind of scary. One cop in Marfa actually pulled Tristan out of the car and kept asking ‘How many people are in the van? How many people are in the van?’ Like he was trying to catch us in a lie.”

“There’s a kind of mecca for minimalist sculpture in Marfa,” Tristan said, “it’s in the desert, and it’s really cool. So we were driving down to see that, and I did a U-Turn — which was totally legal — but he still stopped me an pulled me out. These two artist dudes saw it and were like ‘We’re gonna stay here! We’re here for you! We’re gonna watch out for you! Don’t you worry!’ And I was like, “OK, uh, thanks…? I mean, what were they going to do, tackle the cop? Paint him? Thanks, guys.”

Tristan also related a story about a run-in with an overzealous customs officer — but I’m saving that one for the profile piece.