I’m a sucker for power pop and am always excited to discover a new artist who possesses a great melodic touch. In that vein, meet Boston’s Speedfossil.
Singer-songwriter Garret Vandermolen took an extended hiatus nearly two decades ago but couldn’t escape his musical calling. No Anesthesia, his third album since returning to music, finds Vandermolen just hitting stride. The album is filled with crunchy and melodic guitars, not to mention insistent rhythms, that recall Fountains of Wayne. And, oh, the harmonies.
“Disconnected” is the latest single from Vandermolen and his bandmates Michael Scotti (bass), Dan Jordan (lead guitar/vocals), and Hector Saint-Hilaire (drums). Says Vandermolen about the song:
“Disconnected”, lyrically, is the battle scars from an old, failed relationship that I think I’m still processing. I tracked acoustic guitar (the actual 1st take on the final recording!) to a click and sent it to Hector and asked him to put some drums on it. What he sent back sounded great, so I just kept working on it, adding in the bass, and then some backwards 12-string parts, and the strings. I sent it to Dan, he loved it and came up with that slinky guitar melody in the chorus sections on his Ric 12-string. I also had just bought a bunch of Latin percussion instruments, so this song got to be the guinea pig for a bunch of them! To me, the genius of Dave Westner’s mix really shines here, particularly whatever cool effect he came up with for the guiro in the breakdown of the 3rd verse. Mike heard the track and loved it and said I don’t need to play on this recording, you guys got it covered.
Twangville is privileged to premiere “Disconnected” from Speedfossil. Crank it up.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.