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BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About
LOTD
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Speak Easy:
Low Moral Character
Eighty-something years ago, the local speakeasy was the place to go for a good time and illegal substances. Today, the band Speak Easy seems to be a similar locale, offering the same strange combination of laidback fun and dangerous corruption on their debut album, Low Moral Character. To keep from getting busted, speakeasies had to keep up appearances, disguising themselves on the outside as ordinary buildings. Once inside, though, visitors were treated to a much seedier story. Speak Easy took notes in history class the original version of the band met in high school, after all and have used the same strategy when sequencing their album. The first four songs, minus the skippable title track, are the best and most accessible on the album. Based on the upbeat, reggae sound found in these three tracks, new listeners are likely to assume that this band is a Sublime/Dave Matthews devotee. The piano-driven Serotonin especially evokes visions of hippie dancing, open lawns and eventual, drug-infused collapse. But the peaceful potheads are in for a jolt. On its web site, Speak Easy largely attributes the bands current musical style to the induction of bass player Jameson Hollis, apparently the most handsome rasta on the planet. Hollis did succeed in bringing a reggae influence to a rock band but too often it seems the two styles are clashing instead of combining. This trend begins with the fifth track, The Muse, a burst of anger that lasts for much of the rest of the album. In No Good for Me, sections of hard rock riffs intersect with softer, slower reggae grooves, a combination thats interesting but doesnt quite manage to make a coherent song. Another example of Speak Easys multiple personalities lies in the lyrics. The group goes violently back and forth in their opinions about drugs, alcohol, girls, themselves you name it. While many a band has songs both heralding and hating the opposite sex, Speak Easy takes it to the extreme. Oh Melanie is a sugary tale of a perfect girl, made extra sweet with the cherubic vocals of Maggie Arnold. On the other end of the spectrum, Sacrifice comes off as an ode to date rape: singer Kevin Verni warns his lady that hes got a little place in my heart reserved for little girls I meet in the dark, and then growlingly instructs her to lay down on my alter/ enjoy your last drink/ my lovely daughter. Theres a lot of back-and-forth going on here, some of it excellent, some of it teetering on frightening. Listeners wont get bored at the Speak Easy, but they may not ever feel entirely comfortable there, either.
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