Soft Speakers Struggles to Sort Out Their Noise
Debut album Conditions can’t quite find its footing in any specific musical style
Soft Speaker
Conditions
Released on May 18, 2009
I’ve got a thing for Chicago
bands. Blame it on my lame suburban upbringing on the outskirts of that
great city that led me to believe that everything good and cool in the
world happened in the metropolis. Local bands provided a fitting soundtrack
to that belief. However, it’s become rarer for me to find a new local
band to idolize. Cue Soft Speaker. With an eclectic sound that draws
on everything from garage band aesthetics to country Western influences,
they’re offering something for everyone. Because of this though, they’ve
got some work to do as far as defining their sound is concerned.
A lack of definition is to be expected though—Conditions is their debut album, and they’ve written it like that. It’s a little rough around the edges, and they seem to want to give potential fans a little bit of everything. But, when you’re only working with seven tracks, a little bit more focus is appreciated.
Disregarding their slight schizophrenia though, they actually sound good in each of the genres they try on. The opening track, “Mercury Park,” features harder, more rock-inspired guitar riffs, and a surprisingly polished, almost old-school croon for vocals. Honestly, they just sound like they’re having way too much fun on that track. The energy is contagious, and you’re going to be screaming along by the end.
The album takes a slow turn toward country twang with “Barbershop Quintet.” They’ve definitely gotten out of the garage on this one. The vocals are great, as is the melancholic instrumentation. But there is no real transition—the change in tone is so sudden that it’s jarring to listen to. Versatility laudable, but it’s easy to start feeling jerked about over the course of this album.
What’s fascinating about Soft Speaker is that since every song on the album has a radically different style, the tracks end up being quite strong when they stand on their own. It’s like they’ve put together an album of great and inventive singles. On “Danger Red,” the guitarist sounds like he’s going to rip his instrument apart. The song right after that, though, “Don’t Read the Rags,” features a much cooler, more controlled guitar part. Again, their ability to inhabit so many different styles is great, and shows their talent as a young band. But, I can’t help wanting to tell them to slow down, and save some tricks for their later albums.
High Point
While their instrumentation may be all over the place, their vocals manage to gracefully sing over all of it, and provide a sense of calm in the storm that Soft Speaker can sometimes create.
Low Point
I’m just hoping that for their next album, they choose one style—or maybe two—and develop it, rather than trying to showcase their ability to do it all, albeit on a surface level.
Posted by Alyssa Vincent on Jul 09, 2009 @ 6:00 am