If you are or ever were a fan of such artists as Pylon, The B-52s, Manic Street Preachers or Blondie, we think it’s fair to assume that you might also enjoy the latest output from British collective The Speed Of Sound. Hailing from Manchester with a 35-year history as a band, this year they are offering something really special – a trilogy… This three-volume set ‘A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty’ is the band’s second release via California-based label Big Stir Records.
After receiving accolades for the first album ‘A Cornucopia: Minerva’, the band is now releasing ‘A Cornucopia: Victory’. Today we have the pleasure of premiering the lead track from this album, titled’Underground’. As ever, these Mancs create a unique and otherworldly sonic kaleidoscope. Purveyors of art-pop (a mix between indie rock and power pop), their music is wry and incisive, offering a deeply listenable exploration of post-industrial culture, showcasing their own trademark sound that is both coolly novel and undeniably addictive.
Where ‘Minerva’ displays joyous belligerence in the face of a dominant mainstream music machine, the second disc ‘Victory’ is more at peace and relaxed, while retaining an optimistic upbeat and lively feel. It is a celebration of this unheard underground music and counterculture itself, music made for the pleasure of making it (rather than made by artless corporate entities) this is music that sees the mere act of existence as both rebellion and also success. With the exception of ‘Underground’, ‘Victory’ remains a physical-only release.
The Speed of Sound is made up of father and son John Armstrong (guitars and vocals) and Henry Armstrong (keyboards), Ann-Marie Crowley (vocals and guitar), Kevin Roache (bass guitar) and John Broadhurst (drums). Over the years, The Speed Of Sound have produced music laced with optimism and lyrical bite, tapping the DIY ethos of punk and the restless lust for experimentation of psychedelia. Formed in 1989 with a pre-history dating back to the day Andy Warhol died in 1987, their music has always been idiosyncratic, counter-intuitive and perpetually looking for something new.
“Can you hear the unheard music? This is subterranean dance-rock with an insatiable groove in celebration of independent music. The theme of non-mainstream creativity is present throughout the three linked albums of A Cornucopia; ‘Underground’ is where it is all explicitly pulled together. Immunity from the toxic tentacles of major labels and ‘the music business’ gives a freedom of expression simply not possible from within the machine,” says frontman John Armstrong, adding, “The ‘We’ stated in ‘We are the underground’ is a collective ‘We’ – not just The Speed Of Sound – instead the ‘We’ is made up of every single independent artist across the planet. Together ‘We’ are all the Underground and ‘We’ are defiantly proud of our existence beyond the exclusive major label ‘club’. ‘We’ have the power to just do our thing and get on with it!”
The ‘Victory’ album includes 14 wide-ranging pieces of unheard and highly contagious fresh and unexpectedly shape-shifting grooves.
From the supremely danceable ‘Underground’ through the unabashed sensuality of ‘Monsoon’ to the gothic lounge jazz of ‘Permafrost’ and the strangely linked pairing of ‘Apocalypse Acropolis’ and ‘Apocalypse Metropolis’, on to the hypnotic orange-and-sandalwood scented wisps of masala rock in ‘Rock Paper Scissors’, acoustic powered spaceflight ‘in From TheCradle To The Stars’, the reckless garage punk punch of ‘Go For It‘, the data scraping warning of ‘X-Y Axis’, the post-nostalgia of ‘The Same River’ and swaggering rock with a pinch of Brazilian sway in ‘A Walk By The Sea’, while ‘E to F’ displays glam rock tendencies and a pinball metaphor before the soaring harmonies of ‘Empathic Reaction’ and ending with the triumphant shimmering elegance of ‘Tranquility Falls’.
IThe Speed Of Sound makes music laced with optimism and lyrical bite, tapping the DIY ethos of punk and the restless lust for experimentation of psychedelia. Formed in 1989 with a pre-history dating back to the day Andy Warhol died in 1987, their music has always been idiosyncratic, counter-intuitive and perpetually looking for something new. With their inbuilt eclectic and genre-defying style, The Speed Of Sound expand from their base-camp foundation of 1960s, punk and new wave influences, encompassing wide dynamic and stylistic variation, crossing borders and pushing boundaries at every opportunity while retaining continuity. Their music bursts with experimentation whilst retaining hooks and melodic sensibility, plus sharp barbed wit, lyrical depth and all-pervading sense of joy.
‘Underground’ can be ordered digitally from various online music platforms. The ‘Victory’ and ‘Minerva’ albums are out now on CD and vinyl, available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. The ‘Bounty’ album will also be released later in the year. Most importantly, all three albums can be had as a physical set via the label’s Bandcamp.
CREDITS
All songs written by John Armstrong
John Armstrong – guitars and vocals
Ann-Marie Crowley – vocals and guitars
Kevin Roache – bass guitar
John Broadhurst – drums
Henry Armstrong – keyboards
Bob Dinn – trumpet and flugelhorn
Chris Guest – harmonium, vibraphone, organ, shakers, tambourine
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Vibratone Sound Studio in Manchester by Chris Guest, Adam Crossley and The Speed of Sound.
Main sleeve image: Purple Spaceman © Lina Landers 2022
Artist photographs by Shay Rowan
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Explore the fabulous world of The Speed of Sound
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Mastadon | Soundcloud | YouTube | Apple Music | Spotify | Press contact
More from Big Stir Records
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Mixcloud | YouTube
