“I’m gonna write like Bob Dylan, I’m gonna write like Johnny Cash.”
It’s not a bad opening line—let’s be fair. But there’s a man drumming on it who was in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Stan Lynch is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and the story goes that he was working with singer/guitarist Jon Christopher Davis on a solo project.
They’d recorded an album’s worth of material but decided that forming a band was the way forward. And so, The Speaker Wars were born.
The first song, “You Make Every Lie Come True,” is more or less impossible not to enjoy if you’ve ever liked any American singer-songwriter.
The good news? They’re all nearly as good as that—and some are better. “It Ain’t Easy” makes that claim look like a lie, and Stan’s old boss would have loved it.
Davis and Jay Michael Smith dovetail brilliantly on guitar throughout, but never better than on the ’60s-tinged “Taste of Heaven,” where the harmonica is a joy.
The riffs on the brilliant “Never Ready to Go” are worthy of Jason Isbell, while the subtle keys from Jay Brown make “The Forgiveness Tree” even more special.
There’s something that elevates each of these songs. The backing vocals and saxophone on “The Moon Cries Wolf,” for example. Or the country ballad “Traders South,” which you never saw coming—but can’t resist once it’s here.
Indeed, there’s a bit of a country interlude feel to this stretch, as “Leave Him” is built around its pedal steel guitar.
Springsteen—who always should be a presence on a record like this—hangs heavy over it all. You wouldn’t have to work too hard to imagine “Sit With My Soul” on one of his latter-day albums. And “I Wish You Peace” brings a calm with its 10cc-style harmonies.
And if we may paraphrase one of 10cc’s song titles: if you don’t love The Speaker Wars—both the album and the band—then quite frankly, you don’t really care about the Great American Songbook.
Because these ten songs deserve a place in it.
This is a genuine gem.
Rating: 9/10
REVIEW: THE SPEAKER WARS – THE SPEAKER WARS (2025)
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