Former Philly, now Los-Angeles-based Eastern Conference Champions release their forth full-length Speak-Ahh today. This album is clearly a more developed and well-rounded sound than last year’s Santa Fe EP, yet John Ostrander’s mumbled and passionate wail alongside Melissa Dougherty’s soft backing harmonies is still uniquely ECC. The music rides on heavy drums from Greg Lyons, strong and groovy bass beats from Melissa and noisy chords from Ostrander with a result that is indie rock at it’s core.
For me, it’s track two, “Hell or High Water” that caught my attention. Completely cinematic in it’s subtlety, it struck me while I was driving on the highway during sunset. Its absolute sadness, yet completely beauty is striking, opening with a minimal echoing piano melody, and leading into a weaving dance between drums, piano, and drum machine. Josh sings hopeless lyrics like “All I can say in defense / is may we should have taken the chance / I guess you were right,” leading into an upbeat bridge about numbing with household drugs. The heaviness continues in tracks like the sorrowful “Patience,” and the confident yet sad “Offkilter,” proclaiming “If love is easy, I’ll break your heart.”
“Hell or High Water”
The heaviness isn’t consistent or dragging on Speak-Ahh, with lighter tracks including the passionate and anthemic “Attica” and “Sunshine,” the noisey and groovy “Hurricane,” the bass-heavy chorus-laden “How Long,” dance-inspiring “Bull in the Wild,” and folky “Attica.”
The ten-track full length Speak-Ahh is a polished and well-balanced album, drawing on every emotion and blending them into raw folk-tinged indie rock. It’s bands like Eastern Conference Champions that make the LA music scene so vibrant.
