Santa Cruz emo band Racecourse released their debut album July, December, one of our favorite emo albums of the year so far, on New Year’s Eve, and they’ve announced an East Coast tour supporting it. “We are so incredibly thrilled and excited to be doing these,” they say. The tour hits DC, Philly, NJ, New Haven, and more, and ahead of those they have shows supporting Jejune on the West Coast. See all dates below.
The NJ show is at Garwood’s Crossroads on November 15, and tickets go on sale Thursday, July 30 at 12 PM ET.
About Racecourse and their single “Caledonia,” Andrew wrote.
It looks like there’s something going on with the emo scene in Santa Cruz. First Day Back were last year’s breakthrough OG-style emo band, and on New Year’s Eve we got the debut album from their friends Racecourse, July, December. It was produced by their own drummer, Ben Chung, who also produced the First Day Back album, and it was made with bass playing and writing from First Day Back’s Luke Johnson. But while FDB sound like a cross between Cap’n Jazz and Sunny Day Real Estate, Racecourse make delicate, slowcore-ish emo in the vein of Mineral and Everyone Asked About You, as you can hear on album highlight “Caledonia.” With its slow pace, lightly buzzing synths, sparkling guitars, kinetic bassline, and the wintry vocals of Reya Langen, it’s a dose of hushed melancholy that sounds like a lost emo classic from 1999 and hits just as hard in 2026 as it would have back then.
Watch him talk more about July, December, and stream the album below.
RACECOURSE: 2026 TOUR DATES
SAT AUG 15 Seattle, WA The Vera Project *
SUN AUG 16 Portland, OR Polaris Hall *
THU NOV 12 Washington, DC Rhizome
FRI NOV 13 Pittsburgh, PA Roboto
SAT NOV 14 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
SUN NOV 15 Garwood, NJ Crossroads
WED NOV 18 Burlington, VT Radio Bean
FRI NOV 20 Hamden, CT Space Ballroom
SAT NOV 21 Rochester, NY Bug Jar
* with Jejune