Reviews:: Speaker Speaker Call It Off

Every so often you need some music that just sounds great and makes you smile. Granted, for the majority of the time I listen to dusty, alt-country and mellow indie rock, but back in the day I was pretty well locked and loaded with punk rock. Two of the staples from that era now gone are Jawbreaker and anything with J. Robbins's name attached to it. That's probably why the email I got from Speaker Speaker stood out. I mean, a record produced by J. Robbins is going to be solid and the fact they covered a 24 Hour Revenge Therapy Jawbreaker track (Do You Still Hate Me?) assured me I'd probably pick up what Seattle-based trio Speaker Speaker was putting down.

As it turns out, their surf-era harmonies and melodic punk rock is just the pick me up I've needed lately. Their latest effort - Call It Off - is 13 songs/31 minutes of guitars, snotty vocals and for me it's a mental release. I am not stuck straining as I try to pin point hidden textures and effects. I listen and forget about everything else that's going on. I find myself uncontrollably tapping my foot and nodding along as the familiar drum fills and cymbal crashes, guitar solos and rubber band bass lines dance around my head. Speaker Speaker has one speed, and that's full throttle, pedal to the floor.

If I had to pick some contemporary artists that fit the same mold, I'd point to the Thermals, but instead of political and religious messages, Speaker Speaker are more concerned with classic punk rock themes; girls, break ups and not fitting in. Hearing Colin sing, "you would be the kind of girl that would come to shows and even sing-along, should have known that when you said you hate the Beatles that I was wrong" on I Was Wrong is strangely reassuring. I'm up over 30 and music still plays a big role in my life. In the grand scheme of things I know someone's taste in music shouldn't matter, but deep inside for me, it does. If I didn't, wasting time on a music blog would be pointless.

Speaker Speaker isn't singing about kids and investments, which is great because I get enough of that in my real life. No, they are pumping out songs that make you want to sing-along as you push forward through the crowd. Songs that make you pump your fist and forget about your job, your age and your life for even just two-minutes. All in all, not a bad escape if you ask me.

MP3:: Call it Off
MP3:: We Won't March

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