I’d purchased London’s The Speedways debut album, Just Another Regular Summer, on a Bandcamp dive back in 2019 while stealing time at a random office job. I loved that album’s more lo-fi version of the Power Pop Thing. There was a more visceral garage tone to that record. Through no fault of their own, I would only occasionally dip back into their catalog. The computer job was a fluke in my working career and it was back to the manual labor. Less time for discovering music, unfortunately. I was reminded once again with the release of a new 7-inch single, “Visiting Hours”, that The Speedways are, in fact, great.
Doing the power pop thing and doing it well enough to stand out in an admittedly crowded niche style is alone a feat that deserves praise. The beauty of the genre is in its simplicity because a catchy hook over a cool riff is really all you need. In music or in life itself if you want to get down to it. We’ll focus on music for now. Taking the formula—cool riff, steady beat, some harmonized vocals—and mutating just enough to make it still somehow sound fresh is the hard part. The lo-fi buzz of that first record has been polished, though not all the way out. There’s still plenty of rock n roll edge, still plenty punk enough to be the poppiest tune on a punk’s playlist. But, toss in a humming organ layer here, a plinking piano line there, which is used to great effect in the A-side, “Visiting Hours”. The prominent keys and vocal melody of the hook bring to mind first-four-record-era Elvis Costello & the Attractions, or a track pulled from Graham Parker & the Rumour’s Squeezing Out Sparks record. The song is all hooks, even the bass line gets a moment to be out front. The B-side, “Now That I Know How”, has a shake and shuffle—and once again, capitol C Cool—reminiscent of the last ampersand band I’ll mention here, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
There’s obvious reverence for the classic 70s era of power pop—because why wouldn’t there be?—but it’s not all pastiche or hero worship. You can hear the influences (some 20/20, Dwight Twilley, 60s pop) but The Speedways throw their own spin enough to come up with something unique. The playing alone brings another layer. The drumming is a highlight, measured and tight with plenty of swing, and the guitar isn’t just power chords. One might even use the term “licks”, in a positive way. The production value is also top notch. Nice and warm, like it could have been recorded and released by Stiff Records.
I hope there’s a transitive property to how cool these tunes are and I become cooler just by listening.
Head over to Bandcamp to listen and purchase the 7-inch vinyl through Stardumb Records, Beluga Records and FOLC Records.
