Speaker Speaker, Call It Off

On their debut full-length, Call It Off, Speaker Speaker continue down the path they took on their We Won’t March EP. They still like the stripped-down force of the guitar/bass/drums trio, but they expand their palette with harmonica, glockenspiel, and lots of harmonies. They include three great songs from their EP, but what’s more important is that the new songs are as good or better.

And the album has a lot of strong songs. “Parties,” an amusing discourse on exactly why the narrator hates parties, packs a fun melody and a dry joke into its 47 seconds. “I Was Wrong” sets relationship advice to a SoCal punk melody (punctuated by hilarious ’60s girl-group harmonies): “You looked to me like the kind of girl who would come to shows and even sing along / I should have known right when you said you hate the Beatles that I was wrong.” The new version of “Radio Days” adds some cool harmonies to the feel of the original, and the studio rendition “Call It Off” bests the live version on the EP. There’s only one weak song here, but even that puts them ahead of most bands.

Call It Off shows the band stretching into warmer and more melodic territory, hitting notes from the Weakerthans to Jawbreaker to (somewhat unexpectedly) Screeching Weasel-style melodies. On this album, Speaker Speaker shows that there’s no style the band can’t handle and proves the band members can write great songs. When they find their own identity, Speaker Speaker will be one for the ages. And given the skills they’ve shown, that shouldn’t be long.