American Speedway – Ship of Fools Review
By Joe Milliken – Message For The Week
Philadelphia based, punk rockers American Speedway are old school. No Emorock sheen or modern, sterilized metal for these boys. With their debut release Ship Of Fools, it’s simply fullthrottle, straightahead rock with a few driving hooks and kickass choruses to tie it all together.
Formed in 2007, American Speedway surely grew up listening to bands like Motorhead, AC/DC and the MC5, and bring that type of loud, raw energy into their songs, both on record and in their live performances.
Although considered punk by today’s standards, this band is quite frankly, reminiscent of the legendary Detroit 60¹s rockers MC5, without the political connotations and innuendos.
Simply plug in and blast out the crunching chords while singer Michael Thursby of Speedway creates a vocal presence that falls somewhere between Motorhead’s Lemmy, AC/DC¹s Bon Scott and the Sex Pistol’s Johnny Rotten.
With a running time of only 32 minutes, these 10 songs come out of the blocks fast and hit the road screamin’ on such numbers as the roaring “Drinkin’ and Drivin”, the guitarscorched “Cocaine” and the anthemshouting “Same Old, Same Old” and “Ship Of Fools.” For that matter, I could list every track with descriptions such as these.
Recorded at Thursby¹s Pennsylvania home studio in order to help capture their “raw live element”, the packaging and artwork is first rate and also available on vinyl that includes a special bonus CD as well.
So if you want to check out a new rock band that fuses their own punk sensibilities with that of the “golden age of rock and roll”, (isn¹t that a Blue Oyster Cult song?) hop on board the American Speedway and let them take you for a ride. Wear your seat belt!
NOTE: The Message serves the areas of and is the paper of record for Chester , Londonderry, Ludlow , Rockingham, Springfield , West River Valley and Weston, Vermont.
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AMERICAN SPEEDWAY
Ship of Fools
Prophase Music
Ray Van Horn, Jr. – American Music Press
Though they hail from Philadelphia, AMERICAN SPEEDWAY sounds almost legitimately Southern it could thus be said they are the North’s answer to NASHVILLE PUSSY. With the aggressive energy of the latter band’s chronically hopping Let Them Eat Pussy album setting a standard for raging punk as interpreted through the bottom of an emptied Jack Daniel’s bottle, AMERICAN SPEEDWAY dips straight into the same hellraiser’s glass neck in relentless pursuit of a heavy-handed and randomly vulgar punk stampede.
Undoubtedly Ship of Fools can stand toe-to-toe with Let Them Eat Pussy using the energy gauge alone. Not once does AMERICAN SPEEDWAY let off the steam that drives their manically-strummed rockout session on Ship of Fools. Even rowdier than DIRTY RIG or ARTIMUS PYLEDRIVER, AMERICAN SPEEDWAY throws its yelling, riffing and pounding lines into a roughneck stock car of rock and sends the thing round and round for angular loops as if racing in Pocono.
At times coming off like the CIRCLE JERKS on “Far Behind” and TWISTED SISTER on “Cocaine” (think upon the main riffs of “Burn in Hell”) or even later-era RAMONES (Animal Boy or Halfway to Sanity days) on “No Control, ” AMERICAN SPEEDWAY rips and snorts like a brew crew of persistent punk chugging. Heaping just enough pressure upon themselves to keep their pistons grinding on cuts like “Don’t Tread On Me, ” “American Speedway, ” “One Foot In, One Foot Out” and the loud ‘n proud metal/punk anthem “Make Some Noise, ” Ship of Fools is a hellafun beat down with a snaggletooth confederate mentality. Blaine Cartwright and his posse might have a drag race on their hands with these guys. RVH
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American Speedway
Palo Alto Daily News
If you like to vent with hard-core punk/metal, American Speedway gives it to you full throttle. The songs on the band’s “Ship of Fools” album are rock torpedoes aimed at total destruction.
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SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK: American Speedway
Ship of Fools(MVD Audio/Prophase)
Metro Times of Detroit
The only thing that these unabashed Bullettheads care about is hammering out their hi-octane screem screeds. The guitars are heavily harsh, the drumming is moronically metronomic, the bass is brutally bludgeoning and the keyboards are the best of all BECAUSE THERE ARE NO KEYBOARDS. Whaddya think this is anyway, some kinda hoity-toity art fag fiesta? When these speed freaks brag that they’ve got “the nerves of Steve McQueen and a heart of steel,” you’d best be bucklin’ up. Lieutenant, where’s my witness?
Just like a car you’re pleasing to behold!
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American Speedway makes waves with new album
www.sunherald.com
This late-January 2008 release comes from a Philadelphia band that has been winning crowds over with a heavy, loud, fast and catchy live show. They formed in early 2007 and soon made the grade as a powerful band that could move a tough crowd, playing shows with Murphy’s Law and Electric Frankenstein. Michael Thursby Speedway (lead vocals/guitar), Billy Angry (bass/vocals), Johnny Griswold (guitar/vocals) and Chris Callahan (drums) play what they term “real” rock ‘n’ roll, often performed at punk velocity without much vocal melody.
Comparisons to Zeke and Supersuckers aren’t far off target. Pile-driving rhythms and churning guitars power these songs. This is illustrated by the opening one-two punch of the title song and the band’s “theme.”
“Ship of Fools” bemoans a perilous state of living, while “American Speedway” deals with literally driving the blues away. Other highlights on this wild ride include the aptly-named “Make Some Noise” and “Don’t Tread on Me.”
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American Speedway: Doing it Their Way
by Jesse Schmitt – AssociatedContent.com
On the debut CD release of American Speedway entitled “Ship of Fools,”
there is a carefully studied, traditionally articulated punk ethos which may come off at first as same old hack. However if you listen a little closer to the subtle arrangements, the joyous rollicking, and the incisive lyrics, you will hear a band who is not only trying to do punk rock in the post-punk generation, but they are also positing that they do it on their own terms and with no apologies.
The album “Ship of Fools” begins with the title track. A simple looping guitar chord, heavy drums, and pretty shabby (albeit loud!) production values may at first glimpse turn off a listener. However there is an authentic mono-quality tinny sound in the record which brought back my earliest recollections of the classic LP. The opening track also has some pretty incisive lyrics “full speed ahead we plow with no remorse…where we’re going we might not survive; so cut to the end we’re not making it back alive.” Punk lyrics with a decidedly “un-punk” resonance in these times of tumult which exist in our world today; this rollicking band not only has a fair amount of angst, they also come off with a message that you need to hear to understand; are you listening?
American Speedway is a relative new kid on the block with a congealed lineage which extends only as far back as February 2007. Michael Thursby Speedway (guitar/lead vocals) Bill Angry (bass/vocals) Johnny Griswold (guitar/vocals) and Chris Callahan (drums) make up this quartet who began as a high energy live act. Their ethos is simple: they play what THEY like; which is, according to them, the only “real rock and roll.”
Comparisons leap out at you from the moment you listen to their frenetic musical style. Mr. Speedway’s vocals draw sharp parallels with the likes of Bon Scott on “Highway to Hell” era AC/DC; the quickly cadenced kick drum beneath his high pitched growl you could think you were listening to “Holy Wars” era Megadeth; the simple, looping guitar riffs and naked bass lines could even lead you to believe that you were hearing some 311 outtakes. The fact is that American Speedway is able to effortlessly draw from all of these influences and create a sound which is refreshingly and honestly their own.
Just give a listen to a song like “One Foot In, One Foot Out,” and you’ll know what I’m talking about. At just under 2:40 and with a rapid fire lyric you could miss the tune before it’s gone. “Well I’m just like any other man; trying to live my life the best way I can, but something seems to veer me off that road.” It was then that I took a look at the American Speedway cover art for “Ship of Fools,” and I saw the spirit of this whole record: Four animated, pissed-off, rebellious young men at the helm of a pirate ship amidst choppy seas; doing what any four rebellious, pissed-off, joyous young men at the helm of a pirate ship amidst choppy seas would do: Letting it all hang out.
Top down, balls to the wall, full throttle, fused with synergy, created with ability, conveyed with energy; if you are a hard-charging, balls to the wall, pissed-off, choppy-seas-sailing fan of absolute punk; check out American Speedway, the new paradigm for a lost art.
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American Speedway
Ship Of Fools
By Keith Carman – Exclaim!
Though barely a year old, Philadelphia’s American Speedway have already cemented their place in the upper-echelons of gritty sleaze rock with Ship Of Fools. Thanks to a throaty vocal delivery and a penchant for the same distorted take on bare-bones, blues-based riffs on nitrous oxide established by colleagues Zeke and the Supersuckers, this quartet blaze through ten tracks like a methamphetamine junkie cooking their first fix in a week. Confident and assertive without hitting the point of cockiness, every second of Ship Of Fools asserts that while we are no longer in the fine company of acts such as the New Bomb Turks or Gaza Strippers, the world of punk rock’n’roll is alive again. American Speedway have revived the corpse. (MVD)
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American Speedway – Ship Of Fools Review
Posted by That Devil Music.com
Random observation: listening to Ship Of Fools,American Speedway’s debut album, is a lot like getting kicked in the head by a mule. Not your mundane, run-of-the-mill mule, mind you, but some sort of fire-snortin’, iron-hoofed, juiced-up, steroidal, genetic mutant of a pseudo-equine. Due to the startling response on the part of our control group (my two kitty-cats, Bean Bag and Fluffy the Impaler), we decided to move Ship Of Fools into our research facility for further testing in a lab environment.
Once in our test kitchen, we hooked Ship Of Fools up to the AKM 2000*, a nifty little gadget that we picked up from a NASA bake sale. Cranking up the volume, we let ‘er rip with the album’s title cut. The song’s opening barrage yanks-and-cranks like the Nuge of old with notes flyin’ everywhere; monster riffs wandering the streets menacingly, kicking over garbage cans; and leather-lunged vocalist Michael Thursby sounding like he’s getting a tonsillectomy. In the end, “Ship Of Fools” measured an impressive 3.46 kpm on the Jung/Young scale (as in Carl Jung, the respected psychiatrist and Angus Young, the revered guitarist).
The album’s second song, “American Speedway,” is a locomotive-leaping-from-the-tracks rave-up that is conveniently named after the band. It’s always a good idea for a band to include a song of this sort on an album lest the listeners with shorter attention spans bang their heads into the wall one too many times in unison and think that they’re actually spinning a new Mariah Carey CD.
It’d be hard to mistake the blistering axework, unrelenting rhythms and torch-the-village vocals of “American Speedway” for Carey’s felinesque screeching, but with Thursby reminding you just who you’re messing with on every chorus, we’re probably all OK…well, at least I am. Dunno about you. In all fairness, though, I have to guess that Carey probably has nicer breasts than any of American Speedway’s members. I have the charts and graphs to prove this, if necessary. However, I’d rather freebase one of Fluffy the Impaler’s hairballs than ever be forced to listen to Ms. Carey’s caterwauling.
But I digress. Back to Ship Of Fools, which has been careening across traffic lanes in the background throughout my tangent…well, hell, folks if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’ll share with you all just what all of this expensive electronic gear (a CD walkman and two tin cans with rusty barb wire tying them together) has revealed. Listening toShip Of Fools really is like getting kicked in the head by a mule. Thursby’s hard rock vox sound like he’s being probed by alien visitors for rare minerals. Guitarist Johny Griswold grinds the strings like he was taught advanced fret torture techniques at the School of theAmericas. The rhythm section of bassist Billy Angry – great rock & roll name, BTW – and drummer Chris Callahan are less skilled technicians than an armor-plated bulldozer keeping a steady metallic drone beneath the songs here.
All of the tests and lab reports in the world won’t change the fact that Ship Of Fools is a world-class stompfest, and American Speedway is hardcore punk/metal geniuses. This is probably the logical end result of letting AC/DC, Motorhead, Zeke, H2O and Black Flag all share the same real estate in your local music store. There’s nary a song on Ship Of Fools that runs more than three-anna-half on the clock, which means that every single one of ‘em – from the blood-on-the-asphalt rocker “Drinkin’ And Drivin’” and the remarkably un-PC druggie anthem “Cocaine” to the radioactive cheap thrills of “Don’t Tread On Me” – simply muscle their way into the room, do their nasty bidness, zip up and bolt in search of a better party. (MVD Audio)
In other words, buy or die, fool…
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American Speedway – Ship Of Fools Review
Posted by Heavy Metal Addiction
American Speedway hail from Philadelphia, PA and they play “high-energy, Kick ass Rock ‘n Roll”. Sounds good! Isn’t that what Rock ‘N Roll is all about?
So I put this album on having no idea what to expect and what comes blowing out of my speakers is one high-powered, angry, Motorhead styled assault! The opening of ‘Ship Of Fools’ is pure Motorhead with an AC/DC edge. Guitar blazing, cymbals crashing, the track screams irreverance. ‘American Speedway’ is a total Punk blitz while ‘One Foot In, One Foot Out’ continues the Lemmy worship. This is as far as I get…
I could go through each track individually but I would be saying the same thing over and over again: “Motorhead meets AC/DC with and extra dose of Punk”. And that is really what the band, and the record, sounds like! Every track is high energy, every track has solid guitar, and that distorted and contorted voice. The comparisons can’t be overstated because they are obvious…..OK, I’ll add Nashville Pussy in for good measure but they have a Southern Rock flair to them as well.
Bottom Line:
Motorhead + AC/DC + Punk Rock = American Speedway
It’s not the most original music ever written but it is satisfying 3 chord Rock that tears it up with power, speed, anger, and sweat. The band plays with absolute fury – the rhythm section is a solid backbone, the guitar is driving, and the vocals are coarse and hoarse. I’ve heard it all before but it never seems to get old! Favorite songs here: ‘Ship Of Fools’, ‘American Speedway’, ‘No Control’ and the Lemmy-ish ‘Same Old, Same Old’.
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American Speedway – Ship Of Fools Review
Posted by PunkRockTheory.com
What do you get when you put a bunch of friends from Philadelphia together whose only dream consists of drinking and rocking the fuck out? American Speedway obviously! While “Ship Of Fools” might not be the most original album you’ll hear this year, it will kick your ass from start to finish. It’s loud, it’s fast, it’s gritty and it’s amazingly catchy. Think Supersuckers, Zeke, Riverboat Gamblers or MC5 with a vocalist who somehow has to be related to Bon Scott.
These guys aren’t out to change the world. They just want to have a good time playing the music they love to hear. And it shows on “Ship Of Fools” even though live is where these guys truly shine. American Speedway is the kind of band you’ll see pounding away shots at the bar until it’s their time to go on. They then will plug in and bring the rock before heading back to the bar. And if they get thirsty during the set, they can always let their guitarist deliver another cool solo or let the audience do the singing when it’s time to churn out another chorus that’s excellent singalong material.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
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American Speedway – Ship Of Fools Review
Posted by MusicEmissions.com
Crack open a High Life, light up a Basic, and tuned the set to WWE. American Speedway will provide the soundtrack. Part bar-band, part punk, they turn it up and turn it out with speed and nary a frill. “Ship of Fools” sounds like classic rock played with renewed sense of purpose. They’re a little bit Detroit 1968, a little bit Lazy Cowgirls 1987.
Three chords at most, blues progressions amped and shredded; the band, lead by Michael “Thursby” Speedway, a vocalist who adds just enough punk snottiness to straight no songs like “One Foot In, One Foot Out,” “Cocaine” and “Drinkin & Drivin’” to make them sound both classic and contemporary.
Thursby and Johnny Griswold’s guitars are clearly at the center of these jams, but the rhythm section of Billy angry on bass and drummer Chris Callahan keep the bottom steady and sure. It’ll take about a half hour to get through the ten songs on the disc, but it is a juicy rockin spin nevertheless. American Speedway literally kick out the jams with style, a style that thankfully, will never go stale.
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American Speedway – Ship Of Fools Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 02.27.2008
Philly-based rockers make their debut with a hard-driving set of riff rock…
My Story
Bands are formed for different reasons. Some look at being as a band as a hobby, while others have the goal of making a living playing shows. Others see it as a way out of a small town. Some guys form bands with the sole reason to get rich and, I don’t know, get on a reality TV show
. Still, we all know that the most noble of reasons for forming a band is simply to rock the fuck out. American Speedway is one such band. How hard will they rock on their debut?
Their Story
American Speedway formed in the early part of 2007, a combination of friends and musicians from the Philadelphia area. During their first gigs, the band made a name for themselves locally as a loud, riff-heavy rock band with an energetic, alcohol-fueled live show. They soon began to play outside of Philly and all over the east coast. During Independence Day weekend, they brought the house down at the Heavy Rebel Weekender festival in North Carolina.
The band recently recorded their first album. They also shot their first video, ”Ship Of Fools”. For more info (including live dates) you can check out American Speedway’s MySpace.
The Album
On January 22, 2008, Prophase Music and MVD Audio released Ship Of Fools, the debut album by American Speedway. The album is available on vinyl, which is packaged with the full CD version.
The Band: 7.5
Michael Thursby Speedway: lead vocals, guitars
Johnny Griswold: guitars, backing vocals
Billy Angry: bass, backing vocals
Chris Callahan: drums
According to American Speedway’s press, the band is best experienced live. Ship Of Fools seems to do its best to remedy those uninitiated though, as it practically begs to take your speakers to their limit, mimicking that distorted rush of noise when you’re standing knee deep in beer bottles and a little too close to the edges of the stage. That will leave your ears ringing for a day or two, as will Ship Of Fools.
The band plays riff-heavy, pissed off rock ‘n’ roll, the kind of stuff they call punk these days simply because no one remembers how bands like the MC5 plugged in and brought the house down with a few chords and a tender riot. In an age when rock is high priced golden circle tickets and 30-year reunions, it’s good to know that there are still bands coming in the other end of the pipe.
Michael Thursby Speedway has a great presence, equal parts Bon Scott and Johnny Rotten with a gravelly yell that’s not only urgent but necessary to be heard above the blaring wall of guitar. The rest of the band provides background vocals on the sing-a-long tunes, while the rhythm section grooves pretty hard. This is just damn good rock music, people.
The Songs: 7.0
1. Ship Of Fools
2. American Speedway
3. One Foot In, One Foot Out
4. Far Behind
5. Drinkin’ And Drivin’
6. Cocaine
7. Don’t Tread On Me
8. Make Some Noise
9. No Control
10. Same Old, Same Old
At only 32 minutes, Ship Of Fools is an all too brief tour de force of whiskey soaked, loud barroom rock. On “No Control”, Michael Thursby screams “I need a drink right now and the whiskey’s workin’ might fine.” It’s the whole reason for this album in one line. Ship Of Fools is far from groundbreaking. The themes of drugs, drinking, driving fast and by-God loving be an American aren’t going to change the world, but they are going to resonate with similar minded rockers, be they punkers, skinheads, or just any regular guy who likes to blow off some steam by rocking his balls off.
Sure, Ship Of Fools ain’t that deep, but with fun cuts like the blazing title track, the fist pumping “Drinkin’ And Drivin’” and searing guitar rock like “Cocaine”, it doesn’t have to be. Once the album ends with the sing-a-long, bullshit decrying anthem “Same Old, Same Old”, you’ll find your ears both begging for mercy and begging for more.
The 411: American Speedway’s debut is a blaring, take-no-prisoners romp through 30-minutes of badass rock ‘n’ roll. The band has some nice chops on display, both in guitar licks, groove-oriented beats and a charismatic lead singer, but all of that is secondary to the fact that this is extremely fucking loud. If you enjoy any kind of rock music that doesn’t have any other message than drink, fight and get f’ed out of your mind, then Ship Of Fool will make your Saturday night.
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American Speedway: Ship of Fools
Blog Critics Magazing - Album review
This is groovy hard rock with lots of go and oodles of fun. Not going to break any new trends with this lot, but who gives a damn when it’s this good. There is a taste of Alabama Thunderpussy at their best, as well the obvious references to AC/DC without being a clone like that latest lot of Aussies. Any album that has a track called “Don’t Tread on Me” is a winner with me.
This is the type of thing that you want coming out of your car stereo as you trundle down the road with top down this summer. Hard rock party music; which you just know goes down as a bloody treat live.
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Koffin Kats & American Speedway
show review from lifeinabungalo.com
…First out of the gate was American Speedway, a tremendous balls-to-the-wall high-octane rock band hailing from Philadelphia. They play rock hard, fast, and faster, but actually manage to sneak in some catchy hooks amongst the carnage. Their music is as cool and ferocious as Motorhead. Guitars blaze like Electric Frankenstein, but with more attitude. The singer strutted his stuff all night, belting out tunes about hot rods and asphalt while hot chicks writhed as he sang.
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American Speedway
show review
A local band cranked it up at the French Quarter Bistro located on Main St. in Royersford area on Saturday, May 20, 2007. Former Red Tops, Johnny Griswold and Bill Angry ripped their guitars, collaborating with drummer, Chris Callahan and Michael Thursby (who quotes his position as being ‘pick string rock machine #2’), in their newly formed band called ‘American Speedway’. The four month old crew kicked started their second gig with blazing sounds of pure American, fast paced, hard core rock and roll to a good number of friends and fans, pleasuring them with their rising vibrations of rage and spiritual heat. The music mob definitely fed their audience, a taste of their originality and chaotic entertainment, expressing their way of fun in a ‘roaring’song performance.
More reviews coming soon…
For now, check out the link for the reviews over at MVD.
