Talkie – Talkie EP

By Ryan G

Slospeak Records, one of my favorite up and coming indie labels, has been signing a rash of talent lately. Fever Fever and Golden Youth both had stellar releases through the entity based in Nashville last year, and now we welcome Talkie to the fold.

Talkie’s sound can be described as straightforward alternative rock that has some surf and grunge influences at times. That the band is good will be come as no surprise to the die hards that have been following this niche of the music scene for a while. The group features former members of Tooth and Nail Records band I Am Empire, and the now defunct Slospeak band Blood and Water. If that meant nothing to you, don’t worry.

The grunge influence emerges in “Bugs,” where sporadic but effective placement of a Korg synth asserts its place amongst loud, crunchy guitar work. The vocals go out on a loud, dissonant note in this number. “Church” comes in with a little less angst and a little more reverb, yet still carrying an undertone of conflict. It’s a cautious sort of groovy. And, in case you were questioning our “surf rock” judgment earlier in the review the influences come out the ironically titled “Dark,” which features sunny guitars and a restrained but persistent drum beat. “Pretty” and “Lavos”, the album closer and opener, respectively, are a happy medium of what I’ve talked about previously, but predictably the opener is the one that’s most in your face.

Talkie is an emerging band that hopefully will come out of their confines of San Franscisco and take the country by storm. That’s all I have to say about that.

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