For as long as we can remember, Her Majesty’s land has always presented the music industry with names of excellence. We could go through them all, but we would spend days (months?) here trying to complete this list.
Today, however, we talk about the future. And of a duo that sounds like a bet for the next decade. In the coastal area of Brighton, south of London, we discovered Johnny and Will Griffiths. To the art world, they are now being recognized as Speedboat. From 2019 to now, they have been releasing a few singles, appearing heavily on Spotify with songs like Surf the Whip, High Rise Lover, For Jean, or two of the singles that are well featured on their first twenty-minute EP, Split The Bill.
The band takes a set of beats, rhythms, and musical effects from the 80s-90s, and suddenly, like a breath of fresh air, we are back in those crazy years and our feet don’t move off the ground for this short time. Split The Bill is composed of six songs, kicking off solemnly with a groove typical of that era, with danceable ‘rock to boot’. It’s called Madeira Nights. We don’t know if it has any connection to the Portuguese island of Madeira, but that we can embody the music in this paradisiacal destination, on a summer night, we can.
In a convergence between Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys, we go straight into bigboy123. We dare the listeners to not press any key they have in front of them while feeling this flow. It’s electrifying, fresh, and, well, nostalgic.
I Only Saw Her From Behind, maintains the previous record, with a slower pace, characteristic of the era they are trying to portray on this EP. More scrambled – but always true to their initial foundation, we have Dog Toy: the lyrics are creamy, the beat sweet. Is there more to ask?
Ready and Beat Your Mind, the last songs on the record, are what we consider a bang ending to Split The Bill. It reminds us of the end of a film when we reach the credits part. But instead of them being dull and monotonous, these want to close the party with an intense opener, where we certainly hope for a second chapter.
Soon we’ve finished the first EP we are back on it for a second time in a row, because Speedboat are charming – and this kind of charm is sure to capture all kinds of listeners in the near future.
More on Speadboat:
Bandcamp – Instagram – Spotify
Listen to Split the Bill: