Speed Of Sound

Their first studio album in over 12 years finds Jody Foster’s Army bathing in the fountain of youth. On Speed Of Sound, JFA return to the roots of the early 1980s skate-punk sound they helped birth back when skateboarding was still an underground endeavor that few regarded as a sport. “Danny Sargent’s Trucks” opens with the same ferocious energy heard on 1983’s Valley of the Yakes as Brian Brannon’s hyperactive vocals spew verbiage that perfectly describes backyard pool skating’s lust for the quest as well as the joy of finding an empty pool behind an abandoned house (and the thrill of getting caught trespassing). In the fast-galloping “Wilson,” Brannon similarly conveys the strange relationship that skaters have with physical pain, while tunes like “16 Hippies” and “Party Like The Amish” show how JFA still have that sense of humor heard on such ‘80s gems as “Preppy” and “Beach Blanket Bongout.” The inadvertently funny “My Wife” is a midtempo number with more relevant lyrics about how it’s not always easy to barge backyard pools when you’re a grown, married man.