Faster and Louder: The Speedways - "I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You"

Sunday, June 07, 2026

The Speedways - "I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You"

The Speedways promised us a pair of singles in advance of their forthcoming album, and boy, they sure have not disappointed! "I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You" follows up last month's wonderful "Luna." If "Luna" was surprisingly upbeat for a Speedways song, "I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You" is a definitive Matt Julian composition: a melancholy, achingly beautiful pop song exploring regret and longing in unflinching terms. How gorgeous are those guitars? A big selling point is that the great Mary Blount turns up on guest vocals, and she and Julian sound fantastic together. It's easy to understand why these two songs had to each be singles in their own right. "I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You" is technically the flip side of the vinyl release, but this is that rare case where the phrase "double A-side" isn't a massive hunk of bullshit. The music video for the new song is much more DIY than the video for "Luna," but it has plenty of charm and allows the band members (as well as Blount) to appear on screen. Now let the debate rage about which song is "the hit"! I'm too torn to cast a vote at the moment. If you're after the 7", Beluga Records, FOLC Records, and Stardumb Records can hook you up.

So there we have it: the first Speedways vinyl record in over a year, and it's nothing short of a gem. The new album The Magic Comes & The Magic Goes is due out by the end of the year, and the single tracks give me no reason not to have high hopes. This will be the band's first release with Dan Spagnolo on lead guitar. As a lifelong Pennsylvanian, I'm thrilled to have one of our own (a yinzer, in fact!) playing in The Speedways! You can tell from all the interviews that the vibes are good and the new lineup is clicking. Could we be in store for the best Speedways album yet? I would not bet against it!