Extended 12" Single - Double-A-Side

 Happy Birthday to Museum Of Tomorrow and A New Single... So, this is Birthday week for our Museum Of Tomorrow album and astoundingly it is still getting multiple daily radio play twelve months on from release, it really is incredible that it is still current - Radio TFSC in Germany placed one of the tracks in their current top 25 last week. Amazing.

And: To mark the anniversary we have a new release!

A double A-sided single with the full version of Virtual Reality (the album of course contains only 'Part 2') and an extended version of Charlotte, both tracks are well over six minutes and simply wouldn't fit on the vinyl LP so they form an appendix to the album and are what a 12" single used to be.

Release day is Friday 16th September. So get your fill of Future Retro Modernism over on Big Stir Records bandcamp page: https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/double-a-extended-12-single or take your pick of streaming platform here: https://orcd.co/thespeedofsound-doublea 

Preview Review of the next single

It isn't out until 4th June, but we already have a review of the next single... giant thanks to Christopher Nosnibor and Aural Aggravation for covering it with so much enthusiasm and for really getting the concept of a proper single (which is one of the many things we like about Big Stir records too).

"Well here’s a wakeup: The Speed Of Sound are into their fourth decade, yet are so underground they’ve bypassed me all this time. I feel a certain sense of both guilt and shame for this. Obviously, no reviewer can know everything about every band going, but sometimes, a band will slip under the radar and leave you kicking yourself. The Speed Of Sound is one such band.

The fact they’re releasing a double A-side says something about their vintage. 7” singles may still be a thing, but they’re a niche, collector thing rather than the thing you’d experience as a youth. I was in my early teens – perhaps younger – when I’d go into town and visit WHS or Boots or perhaps Woolworths and pick up a 7” single for 99p, and the B-side would often be as integral a part of the experience as the A-side, while a AA sometimes meant the second A-side – the one less likely to be played on the radio – was the better one. Hearing it would be a revelation after you slipped it over the spindle and onto the turntable. It was a magical experience that words struggle to convey.

The two tracks on this release are thematically-linked in that they’re all about the band’s love for sci-fi soaked in reverb and with some hints of dappled sunlight mellowness.

The inspiration behind ‘Replicant’ probably requires little explanation as it draws the comparisons to the world of Bladerunner and the contemporary corporate world. Hearing Ann-Marie Crowley enunciate ‘Replicant’ calls to mind Johnny Rotten emphasis on ‘Pretty vacant’, but more than anything, the uptempo acoustic guitar that leads the track has a distinctly 90s indie flavour to it, and it jangles along nicely.

‘Melancholy Rose’ is a spacey indie-psychedelic folk effort with the jangle of the early 90s and some mellow shoegaze meanderings, sort of like The Fall covering The Charlatans. There are hints of sleepy, summery funk to the track, too.

Together, it makes for a nice single that does very much evoke the experience of yesteryear’s 7” purchase."

Big Stir Records – 4th June 2021

You can find the piece here:

https://auralaggravation.com/2021/05/28/the-speed-of-sound-replicant-the-melancholy-rose/

Christopher Nosnibor

Aural Aggravation

New single

And here it is: with a timely review from Louder Than War:

Manchester’s The Speed of Sound have been crafting their genre-melting underground alternative sound (New Wave post-punk blood powered by the heartbeat of 60’s influences) for nearly thirty years now, a time-frame which may have seen progression for women but, as they themselves seek to address with this latest release, we have a long way to go. Their new double A-side single “I’m Real/I Don’t Want Your Attention,” has been created to mark the 100^th anniversary of suffrage for women, whilst addressing the issues facing women in the modern world. Recorded at the VoltaLab in Rochdale (previously The Cargo, a legendary

studio with an impressive post-punk history), the video was filmed in the parlour of Emmeline Pankhurst’s old home, now the Pankhurst Centre (all profits from this release also go to the Pankhurst Centre and Manchester Womens’ Aid, and have drawn heavy influence from sources like Charlotte Newson’s “Women Like You,” exhibition (pictured).) As ever, John Armstrong has also shown that he really knows how to craft an ear-grabbing melody with both of these songs. “I Don’t Want Your Attention,” sees vocalist Anne-Marie Crowley singing in a fashion both despondent and defiant about sexual harassment in the workplace, whereas “I’m Real” deals with the brutal subject of a possessive relationship. The language used as Crowley tries to articulate all the doll-like things that she isn’t reinforces the problems of the traditionally feminine whilst kicking against them. Both songs have a jangly indie feel which to a casual listener has a sense of optimism: the perfect hook to grab attention before pulling in the listener with the hard-hitting issues at hand. Speed of Sound clearly want us to reconsider the wider representations of women – in history, in social politics, in modern homes and workplaces, and yes, with the music industry – in a fashion that is accessible and far-reaching. Their

long-term DIY spirit is full of anti-conventions and the way industry women should be portrayed is another part of that. The objectification of women in popular music, they claim, is part of the problem. “I Don’t Want Your Attention” and “I’m Real,” are both excellent, melodic indie records. But it is the bold and defiant way that they tackle what the band see as a lack of social progression which means everyone really ought to sit up and take notice of what The Speed of Sound have to say.
The full piece is here (thanks Amy)
Go on, be inspired and get one