Plain Speak is the musical partnership of Dan Pechacek and Ben See, longtime friends with a shared love of guitar-driven music that expresses the universal pangs of being human. In roughly a decade working together, they’ve taken a collaborative approach to creating their particular brand of emo-tinged indie rock. At times a song might sound like a singer-songwriter record, and other times a bombastic post-rock instrumental, but always it represents the two voices working together, drawing inspiration from the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Manchester Orchestra, American Football, and Copeland.

After their debut full length in 2014, Plain Speak cut their teeth as a live band, offering local support for touring acts like Hop Along, Empire! Empire!, and Single Mothers, as well as touring themselves. While the band line-up rotated and day jobs shifted, Pechacek and See continued to create, releasing multiple singles and an EP. In 2021, joined by longtime bandmate Felix Rodriguez, the trio set out to create their second LP Calamity.

Calamity represents the culmination of eight years growing and working together under the name Plain Speak, as well as a new direction: both See and Pechacek take lead, fronting five songs each. Pechacek designs effects pedals for Old Blood Noise Endeavors, which shows in the band’s approach to making guitars sound like other instruments entirely. The band even went so far as to create their own overdrive pedal to use on the album, the Calamity Drive. Their music is made by gear nerds, but not only for gear nerds. The sturdy heart behind their songwriting allows anyone in.