{"id":38575,"date":"2026-07-03T07:47:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/?p=38575"},"modified":"2026-07-02T19:56:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:56:53","slug":"album-review-smirk-speculative-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/03\/album-review-smirk-speculative-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"New album: Smirk || Speculative Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Two albums in (and three short format releases), I&#8217;ve come to expect two things from a Smirk record: Nick Vicario will write at least a handful of songs I&#8217;ll be spinning for weeks, and he&#8217;ll find another way to subtly reshape the project without losing its identity. <em>Speculative Fiction<\/em> continues that streak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">If earlier Smirk releases thrived on urgency, this one finds confidence in restraint. Vicario eases off the gas just enough to let the good parts breathe. The punk backbone is still firmly intact, but the melodies are more cerebral, the pacing more deliberate, and the pop influences feel less like passing visitors and more like residents. It suits him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Lyrically, Vicario spends time looking back at a more self-destructive version of himself, reflecting on the consequences of that life. Sonically, <em>Speculative Fiction<\/em> sounds thoughtful without becoming heavy-handed, trading chaos for craft while keeping the DIY spirit that has always made Smirk such a rewarding project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">One of the things I&#8217;ve always loved about Smirk is Vicario&#8217;s ability to sneak absolute gems onto every release. <em>Speculative Fiction<\/em> is no exception. The songs don&#8217;t necessarily announce themselves on first listen. They quietly settle in, and before long you&#8217;ve got another batch of Smirk favorites lodged in your brain. That sequence of <em>Cheap Greed<\/em> and <em>Going Off to Die<\/em>? Excellent. Even better: the run from <em>Dog Years<\/em> through <em>I Shall Be Released<\/em> and <em>Perfect World<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\">Turns out slowing down was exactly the right move.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2167867484\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=de270f\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/track=3768757788\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a href=\"https:\/\/smirk1.bandcamp.com\/album\/speculative-fiction\">Speculative Fiction by Smirk<\/a><\/iframe><br \/>\n<iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2167867484\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=de270f\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/track=1534910307\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a href=\"https:\/\/smirk1.bandcamp.com\/album\/speculative-fiction\">Speculative Fiction by Smirk<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Add to wantlist: <a href=\"https:\/\/smirk1.bandcamp.com\/album\/speculative-fiction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two albums in (and three short format releases), I&#8217;ve come to expect two things from a Smirk record: Nick Vicario will write at least a handful of songs I&#8217;ll be spinning for weeks, and he&#8217;ll find another way to subtly reshape the project without losing its identity. Speculative Fiction continues that streak. If earlier Smirk [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8,11],"tags":[598,624,7184],"class_list":["post-38575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alternative-rock","category-indie-rock","category-punk","tag-album-review","tag-smirk","tag-smoking-room"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New album: Smirk || Speculative Fiction - Add To Wantlist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/03\/album-review-smirk-speculative-fiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New album: Smirk || Speculative Fiction - Add To Wantlist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two albums in (and three short format releases), I&#8217;ve come to expect two things from a Smirk record: Nick Vicario will write at least a handful of songs I&#8217;ll be spinning for weeks, and he&#8217;ll find another way to subtly reshape the project without losing its identity. 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