Local Review: Modern Speed – Love & Destroy

Modern Speed
Love & Destroy
Planet B Records
Street: 05.21.2026
Modern Speed = Tame Impala x Mustard Service x Her’s

I wasn’t initially expecting to review Love & Destroy when I had the opportunity to interview the group last month. The four-man group pieced the record together at Planet B, a homegrown recording studio based in Bountiful. After our interview, the band agreed to schedule the release for the day of our SLUG Localized show at Kilby Court, using the set to promote the new record. So when Tyler Vella of Modern Speed reached out to me and asked if I would review the record, you can understand how I initially thought the review wouldn’t pan out with everything the band was already doing with SLUG, and you can understand my pleasant surprise when my Associate Editor Alton Barnhart gave me the go-ahead to do so.

So, is the record actually good? I’d say yes, albeit with a few minor caveats. Each song is a radio hit on its own, but therein lies the rub; these songs only really work on their own. As a full record, Love & Destroy doesn’t flow particularly well. I listened to this record back-to-back six times for this review, and while I enjoyed each song, I found a certain point where the record simply blended together with only a few standouts. Each song has the same watery, warbly timbre and tried-and-true production. It sounds great and works very well for each song individually, but it proves to be dull at a certain point when done for an entire album.

That isn’t to say the album does not have its standout moments. The title track, “Say Hello,” is a stellar opening and introduces the listener to the tone of the rest of the album very effectively. It acts as a litmus test for the listener — if “Say Hello” clicks, you’ll like just about everything else this album has to offer. It’s my favorite track on the record and the track that I find has the most interesting things going on.

There are a lot of really neat production choices made here, as well. Nowadays, I feel very seldom do you hear a Fender Rhodes in modern music, but it makes its warbly presence here very well known in the closing track “River.” I was rather taken aback by the intro to “Skip to the End,” which has such a well-glued-together drum break that I thought they had sampled it. The ride cymbal has a very distinct sizzle wash throughout the record that I encourage you to try to listen for. I initially thought Steven Siggard was using sizzle rivets, but upon seeing the band live, I realized it was actually a ball-bearing cord draped over the ride. Everything here comes in well — the group sounds very polished!

Regarding the songwriting, I have a confession to make: This isn’t usually the kind of music I find myself listening to. Maybe I’m a music elitist, but I found myself rather apprehensive to the stereotypical pop chord progression of “There May Come a Day.” It’s a song that appears to follow the modern pop algorithm to a tee, a statement that I find rather unfortunate given that the band demonstrates they have the songwriting chops to do significantly more interesting things. Take “Canoe,” which yes, does follow the very worn-out and overused IV-V-I progression of many pop hits, but does so with a rather unique riff that almost masks the simplicity of it. It flows and moves in such a way that it’s still a unique listen without sounding overdone.

So, what more is there to say? You get eight solid, well-produced, upbeat tracks here that punch above their weight class on their own but have trouble standing out from the crowd when put together. These are playlist songs: songs you go through your day-to-day listening to or put on playlists for beach days and parties. Love & Destroy is available for streaming on all platforms. —Ezra Smith

Read more music reviews by Ezra Smith:
Local Review: Electric Outlaws — Brain Eating Amoeba
Review: Ween – Bring out the Foos: Live 1996

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