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By Mark Mathews, Wednesday 6th July 2005 02.31pm (1550 views)
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Speed Circus - Banditos Casino
Released: 3rd July 2005
Label: Lilly Ventures
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On paper Speed Circus sound fascinating. A sextet that fuses varied musical styles, such as rock, reggae and country, to create their own unique sound. Gigs performed either cranked up to the max or chilled out and acoustic; and if that’s not enough they even have a clown as a warm up act! Yes you would be forgiven for thinking that Speed Circus were set to make big ripples in the musical ocean. However, when listening to their debut single, Banditos Casino, it is somewhat disappointing.
Although the band prides themselves on sounding like no other, it sadly is not the case. There are small currents of Gomez mixed with faint echoes of The Specials all placed on a chassis that pays an overriding tribute to The Libertines. Now there is no problem with paying homage to past and even contemporary bands, I mean it never did Noel Gallagher any harm, but the problem with Speed Circus is that they turn what was once great about a band or a song into something simply average. The single uses duel vocals, a shouting sing-a-long chorus and thrashing guitars are belted out to power it along and as songs go it is not bad, but it just lacks that extra piece of magic to really make it stand alone and be counted amongst the work of the bands that clearly influence this group.
As well as the single there are also two B-sides on the CD, Dead Fred the Dred and Hey Mister. The former is a lame attempt at sounding like The Specials whilst singing about smoking weed, a topic that needs “handle with care” stamped all over it, for there is a fine line between communicating successfully the highs and lows of drug culture or just coming across as about as insightful as a “Take me to your dealer” poster and sadly the latter is the category that the song falls into. However, the last track, Hey Mister, is probably the best on the CD and my own personal opinion is that it should have been the single. It is a bouncy up-beat song that screams about being the illegitimate love child of Liam Gallagher and seems to be the closest the band comes to having a real floor filler.
Overall, Speed Circus are all competent musicians in an ok band, but they are deficient in having anything that could be classed as outstanding. I get the distinct impression they would be a good band to see live but when it comes to really making a difference in the musical landscape, I’m afraid to say that I just cannot see Speed Circus being a part of it.
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