By Jim Rowland
It’s not hard to categorise London’s The Speedways – they’re power pop: pure, simple and proud of it. And why not? ‘Radio Sounds’ is the band’s second album, following up the acclaimed debut ‘Just Another Regular Summer’. But whereas that album was largely a one-man effort from vocalist and songwriter Matt Julian, this one sees the involvement of the whole live band to take things up a notch. The Speedways are actually one of a handful of bands I did manage to catch live this year, when they supported the mighty Giuda, and very impressive they were too. So is the album going to impress me as much as their live act did?
The simple answer to that is yes. ‘Radio Sounds’ boasts 12 slices of perfect power pop, with each song hovering around the three-minute mark and displaying song writing of the highest calibre when it comes to this sort of stuff. These songs will get under your skin and whilst fine any time of the year, do evoke that feel-good summer sun vibe – and let’s face it we need some of that right now. Whilst the term power pop can be traced back to Pete Townshend’s 60s, the Speedways take on it is most obviously rooted in that glorious era of the late 70s’ ‘new wave’. Of course the punk purists may still sneer at that term and those bands, but it’s not something I’ve ever agreed with and I very much doubt this band do either.
There isn’t really a weak song on the album, and at various points the likes of ‘The Day I Call You Mine’, ‘Daydreaming’, ‘Number 7’, ‘Kisses Are History’ and ‘Telephone Lies’ evoke the spirit of the likes of Tom Petty, Blondie, The Ramones and even Graham Parker and the Rumour, with Matt Julian’s voice reminding me of the great Graham Parker in places. Of course one person who may have borrowed from Parker back in the day was Elvis Costello, and you can’t ignore the influence of the Attractions on this album, especially on the excellent ‘Your Brown Eyes Look So Blue’.
‘This Is About A Girl Who Loves The Sun’ is a highlight, a little more laid back and dreamy than most of the album’s high energy content, and an extremely well written song. ‘Good Girls Don’t Break Hearts’ is another outstanding tune benefitting from a catchy keyboard hook and some neat lead guitar, as does the awesome opening cut and current single ‘This Ain’t A Radio Sound’, an obvious single and definitely a radio sound. I’d also say the same for the final cut ‘In A World Without Love It’s Hard To Stay Young’, which is just about my favourite amongst many highlights.
The Speedways know what they like, know what they wanna do, and do it extremely well. If power pop/new wave is your radio sound, you won’t find many better bands out there right now than this lot.
- ‘Radio Sounds’ is released on 29 June. You can get your copy HERE.
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