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Ace City Racers
At A Glance
Dates active: 2009 - present
Glasgow art rock band
Ace City Racers
Current Members
James Barker: Vocals/guitar/bass
Mark Black-Daniels: Vocals/bass/synth
Andrew Campbell: Vocals/drums/synth
Past Members
Mathew Green: Drums/Vocals/Keyboards Craig Travers: Drums/Vocals/Keyboards
Associated acts
Juno!
Manda Rin
The Tall Boy
Stars and Sitars
Starboard Hazes
Bela and the Lugosi’s
Gdansk
Ace City Racers are a three piece art rock/indie band from Glasgow[1] specialising in short sharp alternative pop songs. Formed by Mark Black-Daniels and James Barker from the ashes of the band Juno! they were quickly discovered by Stephen Street who picked up early demos to produce their first single “Waiting”.
Moving from the original garage rock of their debut album “Take It It’s Yours “, Ace City Racers have built upon their original sound to incorporate New Wave, synth and electronic influences. This sound was displayed to the full on their well-received follow up “Citalodisco” produced by long term collaborator and producer Sam Smith at Glasgow’s The Green Door Studio. Energetic live performers Ace City Racers always prefer to play one off or art events to pursuing the normal gigging circuit. As of May 2022, the band are currently working on their third album “Escape from Ace City”.[2].
Videos
Reception
Recorded at Glasgow’s The Green Door Studio, elements of no wave, art-rock and post-disco can be found all over Citalodisco. Across its ten tracks, Citalodisco rarely lets up and is awash with pleasing electronics, an abundance of disco drums, cowbells aplenty, and has us pining for an indie disco - The Skinny[3]
“Sounds like Roxy Music migrated to London to hang with Soft Boys and Blur. No bad thing I say!” - Johnny Marr[4]
This Glasgow-based act’s album is playful, energetic and fizzes with great hooks, catchy choruses and eccentric attitude - is this music?[5]
Whip-smart indie pop with a real sense of ambition - Clash[6]
Ace City Racers arrive with the indie-disco soundtrack of the summer - The Wee Review[7]
it’s refreshing to see musicians highlight social inequities and the absurdity of multi-millionaires overseeing the benefits system - New Found Sound[8]
The bastard child of Kraftwerk coupling with The Cure & Gang of Four having had a dalliance along the way with the DIY ethic of bis - Louder Than War [9]
Ace City Racers... retain a rugged edge and a penchant for all things raw. This new 7" single, Different Angle, is dedicated to the audio-visual triumphs of that place that's just a little cooler than Yorkshire: Scotland - Cargo Records[10]
The band who wrote a song for A Celtic State of Mind have now had over a million hits - A Celtic State of Mind[11]
The Racers are a three-piece from Glasgow who have been compared at various stages to Blur, Elastica, Wire and Italodisco. They sound like all of that and much more - A Celtic State of Mind[12]
A high energy, angular bundle of joy. [13]
Awards
Their single, You’ve Got the Notion was made Single of the Week on the BBC Afternoon show/Janice Forsyth. The band were featured as Artist of the Week in New Found Sound/Scotland on Sunday. Citalodisco received an honourable mention in albums of the year round up on The Ginger Quiff[14].
Discography
| Year | Title | Type | Produced by | Recorded at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Waiting | Single | Stephen Street | The Strongroom London |
| 2014 | Different Angle/Wilko | Single | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
| 2017 | 21 C Sights | Single | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
| 2017 | Take It It’s Yours | Album | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
| 2021 | Gideon Takes the Train | Single | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
| 2021 | You’ve Got the Notion | Single | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
| 2021 | Citalodisco | Album | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
| 2022 | Caught Up in the Moment | Single | Sam Smith | The Green Door Studio |
References
- ↑ Ace City Racers. 'Facebook'. https://www.facebook.com/acecityracers/.
- ↑ Ace City Racers. by email to Scottish Music Source.
- ↑ The Skinny. 'Scottish New Music Round-Up: June 2021'. https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/new-music/scottish-new-music-round-up-june-2021.
- ↑ Last Night From Glasgow. 'Ace City Racers Citalodisco Vinyl and Download Coming Soon'. https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/ace-city-racers-citalodisco-vinyl-dl-coming-soon.
- ↑ is this music?. 'Ace City Racers Citalodisco'. https://www.isthismusic.com/ace-city-racers.
- ↑ Clash. 'Premiere: Ace City Racers - '21 C Sights. https://www.clashmusic.com/videos/premiere-ace-city-racers-21-c-sights.
- ↑ The Wee Review. 'Ace City Racers Citalodisco'. https://theweereview.com/review/ace-city-racers-citalodisco/.
- ↑ New Found Sound. 'Ace City Racers'. https://www.newfoundsound.co.uk/recommends/ace-city-racers.
- ↑ Louder Than War. 'Watch This! Ace City Racers: Gideon Takes the Train – Video Premiere'. https://louderthanwar.com/ace-city-racers-gideon-takes-the-train/.
- ↑ Cargo Records. 'Ace City Racers'. https://cargorecordsdirect.co.uk/collections/discordia/products/ace-city-racers-different-angle-wilko.
- ↑ A Celtic State of Mind. 'The band who wrote a song for A Celtic State of Mind have now had over a million hits'. https://acsom.net/the-band-who-wrote-a-song-for-a-celtic-state-of-mind-have-now-had-over-a-million-hits/.
- ↑ A Celtic State of Mind. 'Ace City Racers Live in Session with A Celtic State of Mind'. https://acsom.net/ace-city-racers-live-in-session-with-a-celtic-state-of-mind/.
- ↑ Last Night From Glasgow. 'Ace City Racers Citalodisco Vinyl and Download Coming Soon'. https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/ace-city-racers-citalodisco-vinyl-dl-coming-soon.
- ↑ The Ginger Quiff. 'Review of the the Year – The Best of 2021'. https://thegingerquiff.com/review-of-the-the-year-the-best-of-2021/.
