Rolling Blackouts C.F. – Cars in Space
When listening to this track, it’s helpful to remember that it’s mid-summer in Australia. If you’re like me, the first time you hear it, you’ll be tempted to roll the windows down and test the limits of your car’s stereo. February might not seem like a logical release window if you live in the northern hemisphere.
If you’re not familiar with them, Rolling Blackouts C.F. (the CF stands for Coastal Fever—there’s a story there) are a Melbourne based indie rock 5 piece. Their debut LP, Hope Downs, dropped in 2018 and cemented their position as one of the best indie guitar bands making music right now.
In 2019 they released 2 solid singles—In the Capital and Read my Mind—increasing hope that another LP might not be far behind. This new single raises that hope to a fever pitch.
To the best of my knowledge, there’s only one car actually in space. Launched in 2018 during a test of SpaceX’s falcon heavy rocket, Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster is (as of this writing) tracing an elliptical orbit around the sun.
This song isn’t about that or any other car in outer space. This is a song about a moment in time when you’ve escaped with someone you want to be alone with. Together, in your car, the world around you becomes hazy, unreal. All that matters is the space within the car, the butterfly filled potential of the moment.
Like a lot of their songs, this one runs like a 1600 meter track star. It jumps out of the gate, jostling for position, and settles into a solid pace. About halfway through, there’s a change—things start picking up, there’s momentum building. The last two laps are exhausting, exhilarating before a strong finish.
The first time I heard it, this song gave me the goofiest grin—ear to ear. I still can’t get enough.
Might the song of summer be released in February? Not likely with the ginormous list of other artists in queue this year, but maybe.