Steve Horowitz: Why is so much music repetitious? Why is so much music repetitious? “The Tourist” begins well enough but then seems to get lost in a loop like the character they sing about. This does not seem intentional. This is performance, not performance art. The excitement builds as the fireworks commence and explode in the video, but the music seems held back—as if they are afraid to go down unfamiliar streets. And as any traveler knows, that’s when the real trip begins. [6/10]
Timothy Gabriele: Watching this video I kept expecting it to rain, but I guess they didn’t need those raincoats after all, making it a peculiar fashion choice. I’m personally of the opinion that there’s nothing wrong with being middle of the road or mid-tempo, but Housse de Racket want to try to convince us they’re setting off a fireworks show when they’re really just splurging on crane shots. This song could have perhaps benefited from a little rain, even if it were a quiet storm. The song starts with decent enough synthpop, adds a wholly banal beat (unforgivable given that 1/2 of the entire outfit is a rhythm section), and then plops itself into a soar/drop moment it hasn’t earned and completely misuses. The unexpected change-up at the midway mark suggests that they’re just dropping the first half of the arrangement like a bad habit in search of a far better chorus, but instead they just relaunch into the established fluff, getting “lost between nowhere and goodnight” as the song’s most interesting line puts it. Goodnight. [4/10]
Kevin Korber: Hate to break it to the guys in Housse de Racket, but they’re not as deep or insightful as they think they are. Bone-dumb lyrics and a melody that sounds like a poor facsimile of a Phoenix b-side. Hell, it’s not even all that fun. [2/10]
Dustin Ragucos: It’s nice for “The Tourist” to really pump up at the end. Housse de Racket seems like a band that might play a public square at lunch to provide music to casual sitters and a bundled sidewalk. Those that watch them to enjoy the sounds are likely to leave before the band hits the threshold of interest. [4/10]