Driving is a huge part of rock and roll’s enduring mythology. Images of cruising down the highway with friends and lovers while basking in the freedom of the open road pervade pop music’s lyrical canon. Yet, so often, these idealized images clash with the everyday drudgery of being a motorist: traffic jams, detours, and bad news on the radio.

This tension is central to Motorists’ debut LP, Surrounded—an album that is as much about the colourful possibilities of life as it is about the way those possibilities are boxed in by technologies. It’s clear that, for the band, creative collaboration is the only way to break the tension. In a world where everyone’s been in their own bubble, Motorists have pushed theirs together and worked through feelings of isolation as a group, to the tune of jangly guitars, infectious power pop hooks, and a steady motorik beat. The result is an album full of revelations about what it means to be together, and how bad you want it when you’re being torn apart.

Craig Fahner, Matt Learoyd, and Jesse Locke’s paths have intertwined for a long time. They’ve played together as Motorists for three years, but have been in and out of various projects together since their teenage years. Craig’s previous bands include Feel Alright and Leather Jacuzzi, while Jesse plays with Tough Age, Simply Saucer, and Chandra, with whom he runs the label We Are Time. They also share an eclectic mix of influences from post-punk to power pop to krautrock.
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