phoneswithchords The Speed of Time

Doing business as phoneswithchords, Nashville based song constructor/composer Arthur Alligood makes a sonic breakthrough on his third album in as many years. Though Alligood may wear his sunny 60’s pop influences on his sleeves, he nails his references. Not unlike the spot the sample wonder of Panda Bear/Sonic Boom’s Reset of a few years back, Alligood’s shifts of pace over the course of The Speed of Time keep things bubbling along quite nicely. The “hoist the main sail” energy of the opening Bitter Blink echoes The Beach Boys’ Sloop John B, while Poor Progress propels itself, Little Honda style, through a grittier series of shifting gears as we get out on the bricks.

Not unlike Alligood’s own cover art, that feels a hybrid of Jackson Pollack splatter paint and Thornton Dial collage, it’s easy to get blissfully lost in the album’s twists and turns. The title song is steeped in Mark Linkous’ backwoods nostalgia, while the preceding hand clap pacing of I Won’t Let You Down shows Alligood at his most emotionally exposed. The bashed through landscape of She’s Leaving, that ends in a breathtaking collapse, may have made for a perfect close here. But most importantly, The Speed of Time puts Alligood’s abilities to slather layer upon layer of sound on display. Pushing on the edges of getting a bit messy (in a good way) without ever making a mess.