Shark Speed, Sea Sick Music

Provo, Utah-based band Shark Speed released their first full-length, independent album, Sea Sick Music, this month at a CD release show in Provo, where the band handed out the album free to all who attended. The band took out loans and scraped together the money necessary to travel to Arizona to record the album all on their own and are now in the process of sending it out to different indie labels.

Sea Sick Music is a 10-track, 37-minute album full of catchy, dance-rock music that does an exceptional job of capturing the energy of the band’s live performances. Each time I listen to the album, I love it more and more, and each time I see them play and hear the now-familiar songs, my fascination with the album grows even greater.

From the beginning of “Cast Off Dance Off,” my personal favorite, all the way to the last track, “Ten to Twenty Years,” listeners will be caught tapping along and humming to the beat. Besides the pure catchiness of the album and the crystal-clear sound it radiates, what really draws me in to the album each time is the charming voice of vocalist Thayne Fagg. His clever lyrics draw from a range of issues, from death and old flings to dealing with personal failures. Adding to the appeal is the band’s use of the trumpet in many of its songs.

Shark Speed’s first full-length is a hit in my book. Although they are yet unsigned, I’m excited to see what will come in the future; they’re going to be huge. This album, I feel, is flawless. They couldn’t have done any better on their first go-round.