The Speaker Wars (Album Review)
Life is full of surprises. At a time when the majority of people would be content to retire, potter about in the garden, and leave new music to the young folks, erstwhile Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch is back with a new band and an impressive new record. The other surprise is that the Italian Frontiers label, usually the home of all things AOR and melodic hard rock, continues a welcome expansion into other musical realms. The Speaker Wars and Frontiers seem like unlikely bedfellows, but the label is to be commended for landing this particular release. More please.
For those not in the know, Stan Lynch’s drumming and backing vocals played an integral part in the sound that propelled Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to their worldwide status as a multi-million-selling, arena-filling act. Lynch would also be in demand as a session musician and songwriter with a wide range of artists, including work with Don Henley of Eagles fame. Lynch’s partner in The Speaker Wars is Texas singer/songwriter Jon Christopher Davis (JCD), an artist with a string of albums to his credit and an impressive resume as a Nashville songwriter. The band is rounded out by Jay Ellis Brown (keyboards/vocals), Brian Patterson (bass/vocals), Steve Ritter (percussion/vocals) and Jay Michael Smith (lead guitar).
The Speaker Wars set their stall out early with ‘You Make Every Lie Come True’, which sounds like a long-lost Tom Petty outtake before swirling organ and chugging electric guitar usher in ‘It Ain’t Easy’ while ‘Taste Of Heaven’ benefits from a cleverly constructed, and rather unexpected, chorus vocal hook. Right from this opening salvo, it’s immediately obvious that the songcraft is of the expected high quality, JCD is an excellent singer, the musicianship is top-notch, and the harmonies are on point. There’s a lot to like here. ‘Never Ready To Go’ has a nice hook and an easy swagger that builds to a crescendo via some impressive solo guitar before side one concludes with the wonderfully heartfelt, gospel-tinged (check out those backing vocals) ‘The Forgiveness Tree’. A definite album highlight, ‘The Forgiveness Tree’, sounds perfect for Don Henley, which is hardly surprising as Stan Lynch worked, when hell froze over, with Don Henley on the Eagles reformation and regularly contributed to Henley’s solo albums. While JCD covered Henley’s ‘Dirty Laundry’ on his ‘The Ride’ EP release.
Speaking of swagger, ‘When The Moon Cries Wolf’ is deceptively simple. Once again, the track features impressively soulful backing vocals, Lynch’s drums keep everything tight, and we’re even treated to a sax solo. Those country influences come to the fore for ‘Trader’s South’, an old-school country story/drinkin’ song “Trader’s burnt to the ground and I bought the sign”. Those country influences continue throughout side two of the album, and I’m guessing the label/band front-loaded the album track listing to highlight the rockier material, which was a sensible decision, if correct, and works well. ‘Leave Him’ is quite lovely, with some nice twangy guitar, as is ‘Sit With My Soul’ with its added fiddle and a quite glorious harmony vocal. The album concludes with ‘I Wish You Peace’, essentially a coda drenched in Beach Boys harmonies and a fitting way to conclude a fine record.
Considering we first featured The Speaker Wars way back in 2022 with guitarist Andy Timmons (Danger Danger) helping out, it’s been a long road, but the wait was worth it. Fans of Tom Petty/Don Henley and that style of heartland rock, in general, will find much to enjoy, while country fans are equally well served by an album that rewards repeated spins.
Life is full of surprises. At a time when the majority of people would be content to retire, potter about in the garden, and leave new music to the young folks, erstwhile Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch is back with a new band and an impressive new record. The other surprise is that the Italian Frontiers label, usually the home of all things AOR and melodic hard rock, continues a welcome expansion into other musical realms. The Speaker Wars and Frontiers seem like unlikely bedfellows, but the label is to be commended for landing this particular release. More please.