Heartracer
Richmond, Virginia, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
Music
Press
“80s synth-pop with cold, glittering postpunk/New Wave lead guitar melodies and the best 21st century production elements. The result is like Corey Hart fronting first-LP Killers, or Echo and the Bunnymen collaborating with Duran Duran. So yeah--awesome.” - RVA Mag
Listening to the music, it’s hard to imagine that the brothers were separate musicians before, since their whole vibe, direction, and blending seems completely natural at this point. They are successfully channeling a favored category of music while still creating something unique and personal. - Young Hollywood
"If you are already in preparation for summer madness and you’re doing some spring cleaning to your wardrobe, you need a great soundtrack with your change. Heartracer are delivering the goods for our ears for this upcoming summer with the release of their “Summer Gold.” The 5 track project is well prepared and polished. The nostalgia vibes that’s displayed makes this EP one to put into your playlist immediately." - Modern Life Mag
"After the success of the infectious and lauded “Heartracer,” the boys are back with another tasteful tune, and Heartracer is definitely sustaining the 80’s synths vibe with this song. The symbolic sounds bring back the good times of the 80’s school dances but accommodates a youthful sound. Overboard is the short but sweet song you envision listening to in your dream sports car with the top down and wind in hair. Undoubtedly, the band infuses their influences to formulate this song in a buoyant fashion." - Indietronica
"Heartracer shine with ‘Summer Gold’'- - Essentially Pop
"Superb band indeed Heartracer are a band on the rise and worthy of any collection. Sounding like St. Lucia, M83, The Killers, The 1975, etc. They will soon have you coming back for more with there rip busting electric riffs and fast paced rock/pop style, these guys have that 80’s 90’s influenced electronic feel which is blended so well into every beat, bit like a club/pop/rock fusion. Vocally supreme, Lyrically superb and the music is pure Pop/Synth/Indie at its best." - Rockbandom
"Imagine The Killers were born a few decades earlier and were just starting out in 1985." - Loveispop
“Heartracer”: Still with us? Let Heartracer wake you up with this doozy of a dance track. I’m little unsure how to proceed with this review, so I’m just going to say what counterparts I think song has that I think this band outdoes. I prefer this to everything I’ve heard from Neon Trees. Even a few Walk the Moon tracks. Pay attention to this Richmond, VA band. Plus, they have keytar. Don’t forget the keytar. - I Am Tuned Up
“Heatracer” – A Fusion Of Synth And Brit Pop - Magnetic Mag
"Heartracer Is Synthpop At Its Finest." - Examiner.com
Heartracer draws their influence from a decade that gave us dodgy perms and oversized shoulder pads – yep you guessed it, I’m talking about the good old ’80’s.
Their concoction of synthpop, Britpop with an airy presence of chillwave, have been compared to bands, such as Passion Pit and The Killers. Without a shadow of a doubt, they could be compared to The Killers, but there’s also hints of Duran Duran, A-Ha and arguably a splash of Wham! Their quirky signature suggest they hail from a small Norwegian town – in fact they’re based in Richmond, Virginia which, personally, came as a surprise.
Sticking to their 80’s theme, Cosby released their latest single, “Heartracer” this month. Unlike their tracks from the debut album, the 4-minute production exuberates pure fun, lifting the soul and, as the track title suggests, races the heart! - Vents Magazine
Virginia-based brothers Chris and Chip Cosby only formed their band two years ago, but Heartracer have already released a healthy catalogue of music in that short period of time. - Under The Gun Review
“After years passed playing separately, they decided to combine their talents and the listener can discover for himself how they easily mix modern day pop music with earlier sounds of 80's synthpop and Britpop. Their influences are pretty easily recognizable: since the first listening they recall artists like M83, The Killers, Sam Sparrow, Passion Pit and The Presents. Their latest single “Heartracer” confirms their will to connect the past with the present in a sort of throwback surprisingly fresh and update vibe, even if loyal to its origins. Heartracer's amazing video is a sort of audio-visual translation of their style: the classic arcade game and the situation are vintage, but the main characters remind us that we are still in the present, in that “retromaniac” dimension in which Heartracer's music finds its perfect placing. Are you ready for time travel, even if your name is not Marty McFly?” - Music Emissions
Our modern culture often time’s tries to cultivate immediate fulfillment as a selling point. In turn I think this has left our culture and society feeling more isolated and unfulfilled as ever as people become more and more dependent on the pharmaceutical industry and other vices to fill that void. This song is a reminder that it’s ok to be down, it’s ok to be unfulfilled, it’s just part of being human. - C-Heads Magazine
We are gearing up currently to release the music video for our single “Dream Girl.” After that, the release of our EP will follow, and, with that, we are hoping to play out a bunch this fall and winter, and, hopefully, we can make it down to Austin for SXSW. I feel that, with these new songs and the good team we have working with us performance-wise, we can really put on a live show that people won’t forget. - Pop Wrapped
Discography
In Flight LP
Summer Gold EP
Photos
Bio
Chris and Chip Cosby grew up in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia. Early on, the brothers took a liking to 80’s pop culture from Nightmare on Elm Street to Back To The Future to the super cheesy martial arts movies starring Jean Claude Van Damme. It was a time when the United States economy was booming, people still bought records, Blockbuster still populated every street corner, and social media wasn’t the dominant influence on society. However, more importantly for the brothers this decade represented the golden era of catchy melodies and pop sensibility. The nostalgia for this period of their lives became the foundation of what would eventually become Heartracer. Chris and Chip had finally come together after years playing separately. After all Chris wasn't always aware of his music ability. He grew up watching his older brother Chip play in bands his whole life, but it wasn't until the suicide of a close friend that Chris realized his musical ability. As a mechanism to cope with his grief Chris began playing on the piano in his parents living room, using singing and songwriting as a form of catharsis. As Chris' abilities blossomed he began sending the tracks that would eventually become their debut record In Flight via email to his brother Chip in San Francisco. Chip, who was about to call it quits on music all together realized that his brother Chris had an uncanny ability to write pop music. Chip returned to his hometown of Richmond, VA and together, united with his brother for the first time in five years, a new musical chapter was created.
In the summer of 2014 Chris was inside his home studio above his garage next to a broken AC unit playing a little melody and singing the words "If you go where I go, then you'll fall where I fall." A simple, yet poignant line about transcendence. A song about the way a song should make you feel if you will. Why are human beings drawn to sound? What is that we love music so much and how does something so simple make us feel so much? That was the inspiration for what eventually became the single "Heartracer." Little did the brothers know that at this time this song would come to define their signature and distinctive retro-electro pop sound and would eventually be chosen to be their identity. The pulsing and shimmering synth in the sweat of a summer afternoon paved the way to their sophomore release Summer Gold. This EP showed confidence and maturity in the direction of Heartracer's signature and distinctive sound and gave Heartracer their first national exposure. Since then Heartracer has toured and played with several international acts to at capacity crowds Future Islands, Jimkata, Banks, Pvris, Joywave, The Peach Kings, Priory, and Third Eye Blind.
Joined by drummer and percussionist Bryan Reyes, Heartracer will be unveiling their brand new single “Dream Girl” in July 2016 as part of their next release Eat Your Heart Out coming September 2016.
Band Members
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