MP3 Kris Racer - Has a Banner Year

acoustic indie w/ layered vocals, looping guitars & low-key percussion

6 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Acoustic, ROCK: Emo



Details:
KRIS RACER wants 2007 to be his banner year. As former frontman for Ohio pop-punkers Tagline, Kris Racer (AKA Kris Narunatvanich, but who wants to be responsible for that spellcheck?) came to Chicago and left the rest of the band behind, opting to unplug and become an acoustic, solo act. But staying true to his punkier roots, Kris Racer is more Mike Ness than open mic.

Racerâs new EP, ... Has a Banner Year, continues to explore the themes of adolescence redux he covered on his debut, Time Spent on Airplanes. Itâs that time you reach in your mid-20s when youâre still not sure what youâre exactly supposed to do with your life; itâs that stage in the game when youâre caught thinking about whether jobs should turn into careers or if girlfriends should become wives.

And even though most of the songs on Banner Year seem to be written about a day at the ofï¬ce or a girl actually arenât ... Racer says itâs usually vice versaâwhich either ï¬nds our narrator married to his job (and wants out of the relationship), or his current amour is, well, just another day at the ofï¬ce. Either way, even Zach Braff couldnât metaphorically draw out his third-life crisis the way Racer does.

Racerâs recent moonlighting role in the 60s-inspired, Chicago psych-pop group Universe Society has matured the melodies on Banner Year, as songs like âThis Is Your Emergencyâ build on guitars, low-key percussion and earnest song delivery by Racer with a precious (but not annoying) chorus of background vocals.

Lending a hand to ... Has A Banner Year is Nick Kraska (New Black, Bang! Bang!) and Zaid Maxwell (May or May Not), who recorded the album in Chicago at Greg Normanâs Studio Greg Studios II and Maxwellâs Omnichord Studios. Philip Stone (Sanawon, Sweet Black & Blue) played drums.