New Record From @TheSpeedbumps Debuts @BeachlandCle

SpeedbumpsNew

Sat 4/25 @ 6:30PM

Northeast Ohio folk rockers the Speedbumps have been kicking around for nearly a decade, primarily in the Kent/Akron area. But they didn’t really buckle down and make a major push for attention until they released their third album The Harbors We Seek in 2013. That’s when they hooked up with artist/entrepreneur Susie Frazier who formed a record label to distribute and promote the release, and the band started playing a lot more high-profile shows.

So they’re primed for the May 5 release of their new album Soil to the Seed, which fans can get a jump on when they play their release show at the Beachland Ballroom. The core band of singer/guitarist/songwriter Erik Urycki, cellist Sam Kristoff, bassist Kevin Martinez and percussionist Pat Hawkins has been augmented by vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist/banjo player Abby Luri and second percussionist Danny Jenkins.

You’d think with all that musical firepower that the new album would be a high-energy rager. But it’s the opposite. It’s sparer, more intimate and more nuanced than The Harbors We Seek. And with Urycki’s vocals being so much in the foreground — the band doesn’t go in for harmonies and Luri’s vocals are filtered in so subtly you only become aware of them by degrees — it feels in some ways like a solo singer-songwriter album. At times you feel almost like you’re in a room alone with Urycki, as he exposes his deepest feelings in hushed undertones as if he doesn’t want them to leave that room.

As with Luri’s vocals, you become aware of how much is going on underneath and in the background only gradually, as the cello swells or the percussion builds and starts to quicken the pace of a song. And there IS a lot going on, but the players leave only the lightest of footprints, allowing the focus to remain on the song even while they are stitching it together in barely perceptible ways — or even when the arrangement is more dominant and even a little noisy as on “Old Habits Don’t Die Easy,” which builds to a clamor that feels like a mini jam.

There are some bigger songs, like “Just Need Your Love” with its prancing tempo and denser arrangement. But the quieter songs that dominate the album don’t feel enervated. On song after song, graceful melodies are outlined by the cello or a delicately plucked acoustic guitar or kicked into gear by lively percussion.

As with The Harbors We Seek, the band decamped for a remote cabin in Pennsylvania to record, spending the time together totally focused on recording. It’s paid off again, but with a very different and much more evanescent work. You’ll want to come to their show prepared to listen attentively.

Six-piece Columbus indie folk band Oliver Oak, who are relatively new to the scene, open. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door.

thespeedbumps.com/

Cleveland, OH 44110

 

 

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