The Brother Kite: Moonlit Race EP

With their last effort, Waiting for the Time To Be Right, the Brother Kite established themselves as a solid, up-and-coming band with an expansive sonic palate. And with Moonlit Race, their new EP, they show that their success is no fluke. The disc is a collection of odds and ends from their last album. Alternate versions, live takes, and unreleased tracks — along with one carry-over track from the last album — make up the six tracks on the EP. But this isn’t merely a fan-only holdover disc. In fact, Moonlit Race has no business being as good, and cohesive, as it is. The acoustic version of “Hopeless and Unsung” shows that, underneath their big dream-pop sound, are simple and elegant guitar pop songs. “Never in Years”, here performed live at WERS in Boston, shows the band capable of bringing their studio shimmer to life even in the confines of a radio studio. And non-album tracks like the stellar “Half Century” show off the band’s consistency, as even their castoffs are solid tracks. As a whole, the EP packs a lot into six tracks, and impressively teaches us a few things we may not have known about the band. As good as they sounded on Waiting for the Time To Be Right, Moonlit Race shows us that we ain’t see nothing yet.