Despite current circumstances – Speedy Wunderground had a busy 2020. The London-based label run by producer Dan Carey alongside Alexis Smith and Pierre Hall were coveted with the ‘Best Small Label’ Award by AIM (Association of Independent Music) after being nominated for the second year in a row. Carey also picked up the UK Producer of The Year awards earlier in the year at the prestigious Music Producer Guild Awards. He also produced the critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘A Hero’s Death’ by Fontaines D.C. which landed a well-documented No. 2 position in the official UK album charts.
With Speedy – they released their fastest ever selling 7” (and only ever repress since black midi’s incendiary debut ‘bmbmbm’) – The Lounge Society’s timely tour de force ‘Generation Game’ – the second band to be signed to the label properly for a forthcoming EP release in 2021 following Squid’s ‘Town Centre’ EP in 2019. They also released the labels first EVER full length album – Tiña’s ‘Positive Mental Health Music’ to high critical praise across the board. Carey was also asked to sit in and cover veteran DJ Steve Lamacq on his 6 Music Recommends show – getting to play whatever he liked ‘as long as it is new’ – which worked well for the label boss who ‘likes new things’.
When COVID hit – bringing bands into the studio wasn’t an option and so the label started an ongoing project called ‘The Quarantine Series’ in which Carey under his ‘Savage Gary’ techno/electronic alter ego collaborated with artists and friends, old and new over the internet – that series now having hit 20 digital releases with two 12” ‘Quarantine Samplers under their belt, which in the words of Hall is reflecting this ‘this parallel strand of the label that’s forming’.
However – now they are back to what they are best known for. Releasing one off 7”/digital singles. And back with a bang they are – with the longest ever (COVID enforced) break in their esteemed single series – the 35th is ready to be unleashed. In their strong tradition of new/unlikely collaborations the new single ‘Wrong Party’ is a collab between acclaimed Polish superstar Brodka and in-house Speedy band Scottibrains (made up of label boss Carey, Boxed In’s Oli Bayston and drummer Liam Hutton).
Of the track’s inspiration Brodka says, ‘Sometimes we are all drawn to a person or situation that is bad for us, so bad you want to set it on fire, but the desire is so strong, we can’t resist it. That’s what ‘Wrong Party’ is about.’
The result is classic Speedy – with the sound harking back to the earliest/first in the labels releases. It’s punk and pop and catchy as hell. Like Toy meets Blondie but with that signature Scottibrains motorik beat underpinning everything until it erupts into a moment of ecstasy/chaos as the song progresses. And it feels like a real transformative moment for the Polish singer/song-writer – her cool-as-ice delivery ushering in a new phase for her – with a new album currently on the horizon. ‘The recording of ‘Wrong Party’ was very special!’ she says, ‘we locked ourselves in the studio together with Dan, Oli, and Liam, jamming, and experimenting. I fulfilled my dream of having a punk band for a moment and will cherish that memory forever.’
And now we will too.
With Speedy – they released their fastest ever selling 7” (and only ever repress since black midi’s incendiary debut ‘bmbmbm’) – The Lounge Society’s timely tour de force ‘Generation Game’ – the second band to be signed to the label properly for a forthcoming EP release in 2021 following Squid’s ‘Town Centre’ EP in 2019. They also released the labels first EVER full length album – Tiña’s ‘Positive Mental Health Music’ to high critical praise across the board. Carey was also asked to sit in and cover veteran DJ Steve Lamacq on his 6 Music Recommends show – getting to play whatever he liked ‘as long as it is new’ – which worked well for the label boss who ‘likes new things’.
When COVID hit – bringing bands into the studio wasn’t an option and so the label started an ongoing project called ‘The Quarantine Series’ in which Carey under his ‘Savage Gary’ techno/electronic alter ego collaborated with artists and friends, old and new over the internet – that series now having hit 20 digital releases with two 12” ‘Quarantine Samplers under their belt, which in the words of Hall is reflecting this ‘this parallel strand of the label that’s forming’.
However – now they are back to what they are best known for. Releasing one off 7”/digital singles. And back with a bang they are – with the longest ever (COVID enforced) break in their esteemed single series – the 35th is ready to be unleashed. In their strong tradition of new/unlikely collaborations the new single ‘Wrong Party’ is a collab between acclaimed Polish superstar Brodka and in-house Speedy band Scottibrains (made up of label boss Carey, Boxed In’s Oli Bayston and drummer Liam Hutton).
Of the track’s inspiration Brodka says, ‘Sometimes we are all drawn to a person or situation that is bad for us, so bad you want to set it on fire, but the desire is so strong, we can’t resist it. That’s what ‘Wrong Party’ is about.’
The result is classic Speedy – with the sound harking back to the earliest/first in the labels releases. It’s punk and pop and catchy as hell. Like Toy meets Blondie but with that signature Scottibrains motorik beat underpinning everything until it erupts into a moment of ecstasy/chaos as the song progresses. And it feels like a real transformative moment for the Polish singer/song-writer – her cool-as-ice delivery ushering in a new phase for her – with a new album currently on the horizon. ‘The recording of ‘Wrong Party’ was very special!’ she says, ‘we locked ourselves in the studio together with Dan, Oli, and Liam, jamming, and experimenting. I fulfilled my dream of having a punk band for a moment and will cherish that memory forever.’
And now we will too.
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Speedy Wunderground’s fourth singles compilation – ‘Speedy Wunderground – Year 4’ – is out now – featuring: Scottibrains, black midi, Squid, Black Country, New Road, All We Are, Alex Kapranos, Tiña, Treeboy & Arc and Sinead O’Brien.
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Speedy Wunderground are Dan Carey, Alexis Smith & Pierre Hall.
https://soundcloud.com/speedywunderground
http://speedywunderground.com/
***************************Buy/Stream “Wrong Party”:
https://brodka.ffm.to/sw035
https://soundcloud.com/
http://speedywunderground.com/
***************************Buy/Stream “Wrong Party”:
https://brodka.ffm.to/sw035