Scootering Words & Sounds
Lost Souls (Heavy Soul)
The best of scootering words and music as reviewed by Nik & Sarge.
The Mod revival produced some genuinely hard hitting bands, who in turn were responsible for the soundtrack to countless formative years for a whole new breed. We’re talking about outfits such as The Chords, Purple Hearts, Long Tall Shorty and The Risk among others. Speakeasy has been a (side) project for a number of years now; Lost Souls is the third release from the collective, which has had a fluid, changing line-up. Their previous two releases have been, chronologically, the eponymous Speakeasy then Trouble. The most recent and current Speakeasy incarnation consists of Mark Le Gallez on vocals (The Risk), Simon Stebbing on guitar (Purple Hearts), Ian Jones on bass (Long Tall Shorty) and Brett ‘Buddy’ Ascott (The Chords). Four legends of the revival eras of ’79 and the early 80s second wave. All have continued working as musicians in various bands and acts, since the glory days of the revival. Like The Deep Six, Speakeasy is a Mod (revival) supergroup!
On Lost Souls you’ll find 14 new tracks with all four of the Speakeasy members contributing, to lesser or greater degrees, on the songwriting credits. There’s even one track where another Purple Heart, Bob Manton, has contributed. Given the talent of the four of them, it almost goes without saying that all the tracks are well crafted and delivered with real style. They come with power, passion and pizazz, drawing influence as well as inspiration from a wide range of sources that run from the 60s to right now, touching many points in-between. Power chords abound on opening number Somebody’s Gonna Break Your Heart Tonight, while buzz-saw riffs drive Mystery Girl along. The entire album is captivating and accessible for everyone who remembers the revival years. Other stand-out tracks from a high-quality offering are the dark and brooding I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, the nitrous fired, explosive title track and the simple, effective and instant Better Day. Homage is paid to cult 60s TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on the breathtakingly frantic and frenetic Ilya Kuryakin, while final number on the album, I’ll Keep On Running brings this album to a blistering conclusion. Another top quality release from Speakeasy, not that anything else would be expected. Sarge