Jetsam-Flotsam – 30 April 2021
Finding their footing as an expanded band
Private Anxieties, the new EP from Graduation Speech, is Kevin Day’s first full band recording under that name. His previous two collections of recordings have been solo, and although he plays in Aspiga, this is the first time that Graduation Speech has recorded as a full band. Private Anxieties has some really strong songwriting but the band doesn’t add much to the songs themselves. They’re a group that either needs to play these songs together live for another six months before they record, or they need someone in the studio with a really clear vision of song arrangements, and right now they seem to be missing both. I have really high hopes for whatever Graduation Speech does next because I think the seeds of a great collection of songs are hiding here, they just need some more time to grow.
“Dare To Try” is in a style that I think doesn’t totally work for Graduation Speech. It has a slight swing to it, a little more folk-country inspired than the rest of the songs on the EP. It’s a feel that requires a really strong vocal hook or a fairly detailed arrangement, and the song seems to be missing both. I really like the guitar solo that starts at the end of the song, but it ends before it has the opportunity to go anywhere. Private Anxieties was written and recorded during the pandemic and I have to wonder if this was a situation where singer / songwriter Kevin Day recorded these by himself and sent tracks to the rest of the band to layer on by themselves. This isn’t necessarily the wrong way to record anything (Deerhoof‘s Future Teenage Cave Artists is a masterpiece) but it does invite the potential for things to not gel the same way they do when your band is rehearsing and recording together. Again – this is just me speculating on the recording process based on how the songs sound, so I could be way off base. Regardless, there a lot of moments that I quite like on Private Anxieties but in general the songs feel unfinished.
The second track “Everything To Try” has a On A Wire by The Get Up Kids feel to it and it’s my favorite song on the EP. It’s upbeat without being overly loud or aggressive – it maintains the folk-rock imperative of the project. I would love to hear more songs like “Everything To Try.” Actually this song and the closer “Keep Still” generally avoid the issues I had with the first song, in that they feel a bit more well arranged, but they both just kind of end abruptly when they still had a lot of room to breathe. “Keep Still” could easily be twice as long as it is. It ends with the beginnings of a great build that could have a huge payoff, but it just has a fadeout. I would love to hear this band expand these songs, if not in length, then definitely in the depth of the arrangement.
Musician and writer – I play in Cheap City and run Dollhouse Lightning
