SPEED Won’t Stop Until You Make Them

The Sound and Fury set put into motion a two-year run of accolades, opportunities, and oddities: SPEED scored a J Award nomination, opened for hardcore heroes Turnstile and Knocked Loose, found themselves on a WWE 2K video game soundtrack, and saw their merchandise worn by the likes of Post Malone, Travis Barker, and Kourtney Kardashian. 

But most consequently, the revelatory Sound and Fury set became the catalyst for SPEED’s long road to their debut album, ONLY ONE MODE. “The response we had at that show was beyond anything any of us had ever conceptualised; it was beyond anything we’d seen an Australian hardcore band do before,” Jem says.

Suddenly, SPEED were one of the fastest rising hardcore bands in the world. Jem estimates they’ve toured the United States four or five times, they’ve played across Europe and Asia, and routinely sell out shows back home in Australia. But with just an EP, a split single and a brief demo to their name, Jem began to fear the “hype superseded the substance.” 

“To be a band that tours the world, we need an album, and it needs to be a good fucking album. We need something that lives up to the respect that we have from our audience,” Jem says. 

Many would say SPEED have already earned that respect: in five years, the band has levelled up on every release and achieved rarefied air as a hardcore band crossing over outside of their community. They’ve co-headlined shows with Newcastle-born dance guru Mall Grab, as well as Melbourne rappers Miko Mal and Posseshot and Brisbane’s Nerve, while their merchandise—from Aaron’s Del Saato clothing brand—has become a staple in the wardrobes of hardcore kids and streetwear fans alike. 

But if there was anything left for SPEED to prove, ONLY ONE MODE does it. It’s an unrelenting 25 minutes that honours the SPEED sound—a sharpened spin on classic 90s New York hardcore—while using the expanded tracklist to experiment and get outside of their comfort zone.