The Speed of Sound - Victory (Big Stir Records)

If Minerva was the first piece of the triptych jigsaw that makes up a set called A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty, then it may come as no surprise to find that Victory, The Speed of Sound’s latest album, is the second installment in the series. And if that first one proved to be fun and eclectic, exploratory and unique, then at least your expectations are set for this new sonic adventure. To be honest, anyone following the Speed of Sound story for the last few years…or 35, will already be braced to expect, if not the unexpected, then at least the unusual, challenging, and thoroughly rewarding.

But if Minerva sought to stick two fingers up to the powers-that-be of the record label-dominated music scene, Victory perhaps takes a more laid-back approach. The songs are still laced with optimism and a sense of liberation, but they seem to be less picking a fight and just happy to make some less pointed points.

One of the main points is about the joy of making music for the sake of it, art for art’s sake. So here we find a collection of songs, and indeed a band, that isn’t looking to get rich, famous, look cool, or even be noticed but instead revel in the pleasures of creativity and expression.

Ironically, it is this freedom to not play the game enables them to produce songs that could easily be chart contenders in a more discerning world. If opener “Apocalypse Acropolis” feels like a tentative start, when taken as one half of the bookend set with “Apocalypse Metropolis,” its more measured way makes sense against its partner’s beat-driven, hazy vocals and trumpet-riffed nature.

Recent single, “Underground,” might not look to the mainstream for admirers. Still, those of us who have been around the block a few times will recognize its blend of indie and pop and slightly rawer edges, its jangling guitars and shuffling beats, sing-along refrains, and alternative ways, as precisely the sort of thing that used to create the unusual high points and left-field guile that occasionally peppered the 80’s charts as the wave of post-punk attitudes merged into a new pop sound.

And then there are tracks like “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” which revel in their otherness, a cornucopia (wink wink) of Eastern vibes and raga beats, a blend of masala rock that builds a bridge between late-era Beatles and bands such as Orphaned Land.

I guess when you stop conforming to the rules and regulations set by those around you, when you decide to leave the game and make music on your terms, that is when you make the music that matters, to you at least, music that goes where you want it to go, sounds the way you want it to sound and says what you want it to say. I’m sure Speed of Sound has always had such an attitude, but albums like A Cornucopia: Victory and the set that it is a part of are the perfect rallying point for those who don’t want to be dictated to…both music makers and those who want to listen to something new, authentic and different.

Underground
Spotify
Victory album order
Minerva album order
Spotify