Vicky Speedboat – “Two Years No Basement” Review
Posted: by Sean Gonzalez
Fun, aggressive and energized punk music has always been spewing out of Philadelphia for years. Now, thanks to Vicky Speedboat, there is another band playing this familiar style of music and boy do they play it well. The drunken love child of Sean Huber (Modern Baseball) and Will Lindsay (Steady Hands), Two Years No Basement boasts new realms of sonic creativity while possessing anecdotes of tragic losses or wild encounters on the road.
Rich, full guitar chords are the main ingredient to this bands already vivid recipe. Whether discordant or melodic, each track spews out chord progressions that are livened up by twisting guitar leads that add their own sense of harmony to the track. Single, “Passing Through Wales” does exactly this in an uprising track that plays out like an anthem against giving up hope – drowning in alcohol instead. A pulsing rhythm section is charged by a rather simple drum line with crushing distorted guitars. Two Years No Basement is confident in what it does well and not afraid of how it presents itself, like the reprise of “Philadelphia Contact High” sings out, “I’m not going to be alone anymore.”
Vicky Speedboat offer honest songs rooted in the conspiracy of finding what love is as well. “Tequila Restaurant” begins with “I tend to fall in love at first sight two or three times a night.” Behind the deep opening, the song transforms into what good times between friends are with our poison readily available to help fuel the outrageous events that are bound to make the next day hangover that much more fun to deal with. We’ll remember what we can and laugh about what we can’t. “Weathering Bell” has a clever title that paints the image of a beautiful girl in that realm of nostalgic love that happens after a tragic loss. It’s the same feeling that people must have seen when the Liberty Bell suffered it’s crack, but that bell lived. This one passed and forever embedded in a song fueled with emotional lyrics brought to life by passionate vocals.
It’s this passion that makes Two Years No Basement a vibrant EP to fall in love with at the end of this year. It’s touching, satiating and stimulating all together. Vicky Speedboat might be the best drunken lovechild to be walking this earth right now, I’d tell you to offer it some water to fight off the hangover but I can’t wait to hear more stories so offer it Tequila instead.
Score: 7.5/10
