Pitchfork

Phil Locke reports: The ever-prolific Stewart "Steward" Anderson and his Boyracer cohorts are gearing up for a busy winter and spring which will see the release of a limited-edition covers EP, a new full-length album, and an extensive U.S. tour. The 555 Recordings label founder relocated to the US from Australia this fall and is now comfortably ensconced in the desert southwest with his wife, Boyracer bassist Jen Turell... at least until their cross-country extravaganza begins in February.

The Boyracer covers EP, aptly titled Girlracer, features Stew and the band taking a crack at six songs originally sung by female vocalists. According to the always-helpful Jen Turell: "Stew likes singing girlie songs in a girlie voice! Actually, it started as kind of an accident. Someone noticed that all the Boyracer covers lately were girl bands (like The Primitives, Kenickie, etc), so it just sort of grew from there."

Girlracer will be available via mail-order during the month of January, but after that it will only be available at shows, since no one will be home to fill orders. The band is trying to make this a special release by hand-screening all the covers and including a badge with each copy. Tourmates Kanda will also contribute six covers to the disc, but those titles are still TBA. Tracklist:

01 How come you're such a hit with the boys Jane? (Dolly Mixture)
02 Murder on the Dance Floor (Sophie Ellis Baxter)
03 Give Him a Great Big Kiss (The Shangri-Las)
04 Page in Your Diary (Yazoo/Yaz)
05 Stop Killing Me (The Primitives)
06 Since Yesterday (Strawberry Switchblade)

Here are the confirmed dates for the Boyracer tour. According to the band, many other dates are planned, but venues are still being worked out:

02-06 Oakland, CA - The Metro*
02-07 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill*
02-08 Sacramento, CA - The Espresso Metro*
02-10 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland*
02-11 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell*
02-13 Los Angeles, CA - Sealevel Records (instore)*
02-14 San Diego, CA - Popgun Valentine's Popluck*
02-15 Phoenix, AZ - Modified*
02-17 Albequerque, MN - The Launchpad+
02-18 Austin, TX - 33 Degrees+
02-19 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's+
02-23 Tallahasee, FL - The Beta Bar+
02-24 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds+
02-26 Charlottesville, VA - The Tokyo Rose+
02-27 Williamsburg, VA - William and Mary College+
03-01 Arlington, VA - the Galaxy Hut+
03-02 Washington, DC - The Velvet Lounge+
03-03 Bryn Mawr, PA - Bryn Mawr College+
03-04 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber Pass+
03-05 New York, NY - Barnard College+
03-06 Northampton, MA - Smith College+
03-07 Providence, RI - Brown University+
03-08 Cambridge, MA - Harvard College+
03-09 Cambridge, MA - The Druid Pub+
03-10 Brunswick, ME - Bowdoin College+
03-11 Burlington, VT - University of Vermont+
03-13 Buffalo, NY - The Mowhawk+
03-14 Pittsburgh, PA - The Mattress Factory+
03-15 Columbus, OH - Red Dye 16+
03-20 Louisville, KT - Rudyard Kipling's+
03-21 Cincinnati, OH - The Comet+
03-22 Detroit, MI - the Magic Stick+
03-25 Grand Rapids, MI - The Pop Cafe+
03-27 Madison, WI - The University of Wisconsin+
03-29 Moorehead, MN - Ralph's+
04-03 Grand Junction, CO - The Pop-up House+
04-04 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby's+
04-07 Moscow, ID - University of Idaho+
04-11 Portland, OR - Reed College+

*with Lunchbox
+with Kanda

After several years' hiatus, Boyracer reformed with a new line-up to record this year's melodically noisy To Get a Better Hold You've Got to Loosen Yr Grip. The band is within a few weeks of finishing up their full-length follow-up to that disc. The as-yet-untitled album is likely to include songs recorded in Japan, Australia, England, and the good old U.S. of A.

As if all this isn't enough, Anderson's 555 Recordings and Turell's Red Square Recordings will be putting out a slew of other releases soon. On the Red Square slate are full-lengths from Possum Moods (featuring Jen Turrell), The Tall Boy (with Matty Green from the old Boyracer lineup), Cabrini, and Gravenhurst, plus a special 3" CD EP celebrating the 15th anniversary of Australian indie stalwarts The Cannanes. Turrell will also be releasing a full-length of her own material on Foxyboy Records in early 2003.

.: 555 Recordings: http://www.rawbw.com/~aelison/555