Edito de Ain't Never, Never2004. The Year of the Horse. At least it will go down as such in the history books once the second full- length from Bloomington Wunderkind Rapider Than Horsepower drops on the masses. The intermission is over. Rapider Than Horsepower return to bring the world the second part of their two-album movement, which as a whole is known as Stage Fright, Stage Fright, This is My Big Night. A four-piece rumbling out of southern Indiana, Rapider Than Horsepower have raised eyebrows, piqued curiosity, and perhaps caused some confusion with their first public offering. If Stage Fright, Stage Fright left you wanting more, here is more. If it left you scratching your head, here is the explanation. Or is it? With a creative output rivaling the likes of Acid Mothers Temple or Bob Pollard & Co., Rapider is on pace to have written enough songs for each and every citizen in the US of A. Half of this prolific hit-mak- ing machine is comprised of Mike Anderson (backup vocals) and Sal (rhythm guitar) who pull weight in Bloomington sludgecore band Racebannon and fellow Secretly Canadian enchantress Scout Niblett?s band, while the other is studio wizard/candy critic Mike Dixon (rhythm guitar) and medicine man Rob Smith (back- up drums). The absence of a bass guitar means two things: For one, the lovingly syncopated duo guitar interplay, completely dry and devoid of distortion (with a couple of exceptions), is allowed to shine brightly. Secondly, Rob Smith?s drumming comes forward, involving you intensely as the only grip to rhythm avail- able. Musically and lyrically, they have been described as innocent yet provocative, choosing to ?tickle the istener with ether-soaked feathers (Matt Koslof, Skyscraper).? Comparisons have been made to Red Krayola, Captain Beefheart, Gastr Del Sol, US Maple, Pere Ubu, and the legendary Bloomington outfit Panoply Academy, but none of these influences are really evident as an exact model for the sound they have created over the course of this two-album work. There are moments on this record, moments that are also present on its predecessor, that make you want to try to figure out a way to dance through them. It?s almost as if you were to run into Snorky from the Banana Splits at a party, only to have him remove his head and find Biz Markie smiling at you with his gold toof. Then, as a contrast, there are moments with a peculiar stream of consciousness, a subdued nar- ration accompanying a slide show about childhood; things that Anderson will only hint at. Rapider Than Horsepower are very much what was in your head that one time in junior high, at the dance, when you left for a while to go sit on the swings and think. It?s about being old enough to begin to understand the com- plexities of life, but being young enough to still be able to remember what 5-years-old was like.