Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Whilst there are plenty of youthful bands out there bringing back the midwestmo sound, there also seems to be a couple of other bands taking influence from that scene and then turning it into something else. I’d particularly nominate Look Mexico as one of those bands. And Shark Speed sound like a mediocre incarnation of Look Mexico I am afraid. This is all very pleasant, nice, poppy songs with gently twiddly guitars that never get intrusive. However, they also tend towards that simple BOMP BOMP rhythm and drum beat that I’d associate with mainstream dancey indie rock bands that claim a post punk influence lurch towards. “I’m A Machine” in particular has some moments that have me reaching for the skip button, some disasterous backing vocals and ill judged moves into almost funky breakdowns that simply do not fit the music in any shape or form. That’s not personal preference speaking, it simply doesn’t. And that chorus. About deleting you from the hard drive of my mind. Wow. That is some bad stuff. There are vague hints of a Braid influence, especially in the guitar sound, but it doesn’t work for me. The vocals are rather at the fore front of things, standing out, which is OK as they are pretty solid, just not really what I go for. The singer actually sounds a bit like the guy from Dugong actually, which is weird, as they come from Utah rather than Wakefield.
Shark Speed’s tendencies to veer towards a musical style that I can’t stand is what renders this as a no go for me. There are moments that raise a smile, but bog standard indie rock does not gel well with twiddly emo at all. I did like the attempts to get some trumpetmo in there though.