Release Launch Party

And the single launch gig was a blast; in the community space at Levenshulme Old Library, with a pop-up bar provided by Inspire (and selling Emmeline cocktails). A wonderful acoustic set by Turner ahead of their single launch and John Broadhurst's first gig in The Speed Of Sound's drum chair... Thanks to all who turned out and made it a magical evening and helped raise some money for The Pankhurst Centre/Manchester Women's Aid. Single link here. Set List:

Tomorrow's World
Impossible Past
I'm Real
Last Orders
Smokescreen
Opium Eyes
Uhrwerk
Charlotte
Only Everything
Leaf Blower
Day In Day Out
Wired And Tired
Love
Shadow Factory
The Day The Earth Caught Fire
I Don't Want Your Attentions

Welcome to John B. Sixteen songs down in the first gig; a bit of catching up to do on some more of the back-catalogue and then we're of on the new songs journey again. Exciting.

We didn't want to use a traditional music venue fir the single launch something more community related was much more appropriate for a double-A-side single the could not have originated within the 'music industry' which is itself part of the problem with incessant objectification and repression of artistic creativity. Rise up. Rebel. DIY music is always where the interesting music lives.

Giant thanks to Turner for playing a fabulous set before us including their first single as a band 'Don't You Ever Stop' and a selection from their forthcoming album. Art is not a competition, it is about inspiring each other.
Turner's single is here

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