Lightspeed Champion is Dev Hynes. A man who used to be the thrash, punk, screamo set in a band called Test Icicles. I never really liked the old sound Dev was associated with so I was skeptical about this new project. And I’m sure I would have remained a skeptic had it not been for the blog that he maintains. His posts are often barely lucid and the stream of consciousness style that he’s adopted seems to mesh well with the inner monologue that narrates my life. Not to mention that he talks of having a Libertines guitar competition with friends, writing and recording an entire album in five hours, or drops that The Strokes music cannon contains the best songs to play with other guitar wielding friends.
From reading his blog for a good twenty minutes it was easy to postulate his musical style would mesh easily with my musical taste. The only problem I found is that his music is a very slippery beast to get a hold on. I looked high and low and came across some tracks he’s preformed live, the aforementioned album he wrote and recorded in less than five hours, and a lot of references to other bands. Finally I found the penultimate prize in the Lightspeed Champion catalog and it is this song that I’m putting up first.
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion - Waiting Game
If you’re a fan of M Ward, the Strokes, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse or just solid guitar work and clever lyrics in general then this song is a must download. I encourage everyone to hear this song from start to end as it builds continually from start to end with layer upon layer of plucky sonic goodness.
The following songs come from a variety of places, most notably Lightspeed Champion’s own website which doubles as his personal soap box of a blog. The first three tracks listed below come from his album that he wrote and recorded in under five hours. They don’t have proper titles as the project was picked up and finished, never to be worked on again, in one day. The entire album has more tracks than just these three, but these are the best of the disc. Included are tracks 6, 7, and 8, and I believe they showcase the depth of Dev and the talent he has yet to unleash on this world. Notice too the strong influence The Strokes seem to have on his sound. And don’t mind too much the fact that he obviously recorded this quickly and somewhat sloppily. Listen to the ideas behind the maxed out and fuzzed out sounds.
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion - One Day Record 6
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion - One Day Record 7
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion - One Day Record 8
The next two tracks are taken directly from Dev’s blog. The first is a song he played live and is a cover of an Elton John classic. The second is a song that he was writing to sing/give to someone in particular, but he soon realized he hated the song, scrapped even the thought of salvaging it, and put it in his blog as “this song is shit.”
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion - Better Off Dead (Elton John Cover)
mp3 : Lightspeed Champion - This Song is Shit
Does it breakdown further into my chemical romance?
Bush was alternative?