Today we have a special event here in F & L Land: a double shot of Speedways related reviews! As you may or may not know, The Speedways have released their recent album track "Secrets Secrets" as a vinyl single with an unreleased B-side called "Tell Me I'm Wrong." In conjunction with the single release, Matt Julian has produced a DIY music video for "Secrets Secrets" — a low-budget homage to the iconic music video for Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues." "Secrets Secrets" was already one of my favorite tracks off of Talk of the Town (perhaps my #1 favorite), but this video gives me an added appreciation for the song since it highlights the lyrics. I'd heard this song dozens of times and loved it, yet there's something about reading every lyric that makes me understand the song more deeply. The song and video together tell a story, and Julian's direction is quite artistic. Anyone who can write lyrics like "and a mouth so dry the words they start to bleed" ought to be allowed to show them off!
If you already own Talk of the Town and are on the fence about buying "Secrets Secrets," I will say that the B-side is totally worth owning. Penned by Mauro Venegas, the snappy rocker "Tell Me I'm Wrong" sounds like something Elvis Costello would have been proud to have released circa 1980. There's nothing better than a song that can tear out your heart yet still make you want to dance. I've been waiting for some band to appropriate the football cliché "It's the hope that kills you" for use in a love song, and of course The Speedways were the ones to do it! "Tell Me I'm Wrong" is no throwaway. I'm encouraging all my radio host friends to play it often and turn it into a hit in its own right! If you want the "Secrets Secrets" vinyl, hit up The Speedways' web store while supplies last!
Thanks for posting the video. A contender for song of 2023 and I'm glad Matt released a single of it this year, because the LP came out in 2022, I couldn't list this as my song of the year because I liked this one so much:
ReplyDeletehttps://theumbrellasca.bandcamp.com/album/write-it-in-the-sky
https://theumbrellasca.bandcamp.com/track/write-it-in-the-sky
ReplyDeleteWow. That is great! A fine song of the year choice!
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