Album Review: ‘Now’ by Speed The Plough

4 stars out of 5

Click to purchase on 180-gram vinyl (with download code)

A silhouette of a baying coyote in a bathtub. I first saw that compelling logo during my junior year in high school, on the Full Time Men record sleeve. I bought that EP at the Princeton Record Exchange because Peter Buck of R.E.M. was on it, and I was pretty obsessed with R.E.M. The next Coyote Records’ release I would’ve seen was The Good Earth by the Feelies the following year. Which I picked up because it was produced by, yup, Peter Buck.

Speed the Plough entered my life a handful of years later, the tail end of college or just after. I bought their Wonder Wheel album because it had Feelies all over it. (Recurring names in liner notes will always lead you down a record-collecting rabbit hole.) I immediately dug it; they sounded like a kinder, gentler, female-fronted Feelies, but still with a bit of that speedbeat I loved so much.

Fast-forward to the past six years or so, as I’ve been able to re-immerse myself in the Feelies’ extended family, which was still very active: Yung Wu, Wild Carnation, East of Venus, and the thrill of finally seeing Speed The Plough perform live. In 2013, as Maxwell’s was winding down here in Hoboken, I met the legendary club’s founder, Steve Fallon, who had also run the long-defunct Coyote Records. It was all kind of coming together.

Which is a long-winded way of me saying: I feel like it’s all coming together again. Speed The Plough has a brand-new album on Fallon’s relaunched Coyote label, and it’s pretty freaking good.

Now kicks off in STP’s sweet spot — layered, hypnotic folk. “S.O.S.” features John Baumgartner’s warm piano and Toni Baumgartner’s clear-as-a-bell vocals; a fuzzy guitar enters later to keep us on our toes. “Midnight in the World” begins with a keyboard phrase that brought to mind the Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around” or maybe it was “How Much I Feel” by Ambrosia, but Toni’s woodwinds and a wah-wah guitar take things in a more psychedelic direction.

While the two opening songs (of 7 here written by John Baumgartner) are definitely of a piece, don’t be fooled: Speed The Plough circa 2016 has several new tricks up its collective sleeve, all still fitting into the larger tapestry. This is quickly apparent on the insistent indie rock of track 3, “Garden.” It was written by Mike Baumgartner (son of John and Toni), who also contributes another full-tilt rocker with the album-closing “Ed’s Song.” Drummer John Demeski deftly anchors these barnburners, yet is equally comfortable with the mellower numbers. (Yes, he’s the son of Feelies drummer Stan Demeski, who was also behind the kit on Wonder Wheel and is also John Baumgartner’s brother-in-law; hey, it’s a family affair.) And just when you think Mike B. is the “garage rock guy” here, he offers the lovely low-key “Hey, Blue” (which has nothing to do with umpires).

The variety continues with guitarist Ed Seifert’s contribution, the gentle jangle of “Be With You” (think R.E.M.’s cover of the Troggs’ “Love Is All Around”). And further displaying Speed The Plough’s songwriting depth, bassist Cindi Merklee provides a real highlight with the aching, country-tinged “Miss Amelia (for Carson McCullers).”

Elsewhere, there’s also the Brubeckian jazz of “On a New Day” (with a Buck-like guitar in the background), the slowly-simmering rock of “More and More,” and Mr. and Mrs. Baumgartner revisiting the art-folk eclecticism of their pre-STP Trypes sound on the organ-fueled “Telegraph,” complete with Toni’s chanted vocals.

Quite often on Now, voices and instruments interweave into an “STP symphony,” creating something greater than the individual parts. It’s a magical sound that can only be summoned by longtime friends and family — even that coyote in the bathtub.