Halfway between Sparta-light and aggressive Nerf Herder (especially on “I Could Write a Song”) falls Whitehorse, Yukon three piece Speed Control. The latest from these classically trained/jazz aficionados is heavily bass driven, and such tracks as “Coming Home” and “All My Songs” (which holds a pleasant female accompaniment and an odd mandolin solo) are clean and crisp with a bit of carefully placed studio dirt on them. Covering a Nirvana song at this point (“Breed”) is akin to covering the Beatles, don’t do it unless you disown the original completely, but this garage rocker is harmless. The band shouldn’t try so hard to wear its influences so proudly, though - just do you, guys.

Published in Volume 68, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 6, 2013)