SHELLSHAG
- Rumors in Disguise (Don Giovanni Records)
This is a truly brilliant record. I had never
properly checked out Shellshag before this,
but I must say that, yes, I had definitely
been missing out. Shellshag is a male-female
duo, with ‘Shell’ on guitar and
‘Shag’ on drums, with both appearing
on vocals. They play alternative rock with
such talent and vigour it brings to mind all
the classic ‘90s indie references, notably
Superchunk and Sonic Youth. The thing is that
they play so well they aren’t just ‘influenced’
by these bands; they are often as good as
them. Name any of the last five Sonic Youth
records, and Rumors in Disguise would be miles
ahead of any of them. Shellshag have a youthful
passion and energy about them lacking in a
lot of contemporary indie. Not only do they
make great music, they sound they want to
be making great music.
In true Pixies style, they mix up their speeds
a little, suddenly lurching from a melancholic
indie song to a bouncy rocker. But the record
has a distinctive, lo-fi sound connecting
it all. And there literally isn’t one
part of Rumors in Disguise I would
take out. Perhaps the haunting balladry of
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Ruined My
Life” stands out as the best song? Or
is it the choral paunchiness of “Resilient
Bastard”? Or maybe the giddy romp of
“He Said, She Said”? It is just
too hard to decide when there are this many
gems. So much of modern ‘indie’
seems to be contrived and dull. Shellshag
may be inspired by the ‘90s DIY scene,
but they most certainly stand out in today’s
musical climate. Sometimes you have to take
a step backwards to take a step forwards.
- David Brown
Black
Wine – [self-titled] (Don Giovanni)
After one of Black Wine’s early shows,
a friend asked me, “Who do you think
they sound like?” I couldn’t find
a clear reference point right then, so I just
said, “The ’90s.” And based
on the band’s debut, that’s pretty
much right. This recalls an eccentric, era-specific
college-rock album that rewards more with
each listen. I hear the Lemonheads, Dinosaur
Jr., and the Blake Babies, in particular.
The sound shouldn’t be surprising: Jeff’s
songs in the Ergs were abstract slices of
noisy alt-pop, and Hunchback—Miranda
and Jason’s previous band—were
AmRep-style experimental. Here, these tendencies
are combined and clarified into tuneful compositions
that go loud and hectic at just the right
moments.
A driving instrumental opens the album, and
its self-title seems like a statement: This
is what we’re all about. Most of the
songs do build to that sort of powerful culmination.
But they start as disarming, seemingly small
ideas. “Broken Arm Bear,” for
instance, is plaintive power pop with offbeat
lyrics (“My mind flips and spins and
Cousin George is frantically waving”),
but it becomes anthemic when the band muscles
into the track. The chorus, “Gimme a
keepsake / Someone who looks like me / Furry,
broken arm bear,” looks silly when written,
but it’s a demand when all of Black
Wine works behind it. “Belong”
is especially dynamic: Group vocals chime
and swirl before being answered by a rush
of instruments and a single member (Jeff)
continuing his singing over the din—then
back to the group before escalating to an
abrupt close. Pretty goddamn awesome. And
“Couch Critics” is a killer of
a closing song—hoarse, riff-heavy verses
and a seething chorus (“Couch critics
are calling the shots / Football on television
and nothing on top”).
Despite its clear sonic influences, this
record is far more than a pastiche of past
band’s ideas. It is Black Wine: three
close, talented collaborators paying homage
to a style they love, and doing great work
both within and beyond the genre. An extremely
strong first album.
SCREAMING
FEMALES – Singles (Don Giovanni Records)
This budget-priced CD-EP collects six songs
from four vinyl EP’s originally released
by the band, and whether you’ve just
discovered the Screaming Females from their
2009 album Power Move or consider yourself
an old-time fan, you’re going to want
this in your collection and on your MP3 player.
“Arm In Arm” and “Zoo Of
Death,” the oldest songs on the disc,
show the Screamales trying to reconcile their
prog-rock tendencies with the four-on-the-floor
thump of the then-predominant pop-punk scene
in their hometown of New Brunswick. Their
cover of Neil Young’s “Cortez
The Killer” finds Marissa Paternoster
confidently letting her 70’s freak-flag
fly, as King Mike’s subtle but hypnotic
funk bass and Jarrett’s slyly syncopated
drumming transform Young’s historical
fable into an age-of-Obama freedom anthem.
By “No Being Disgusting,” Paternoster’s
nailed her patented quavery yowl; “Pretty
Ok” and “I Do” find the
band in top form, no long stitching together
influences but rather crafting seamless, organic
expressions of post-adolescent fury. I’m
not sure if the tracks were remastered for
CD; but to me, they sound better here than
they did on my turntable, capturing the band’s
ferocious live energy while rendering an intimate,
almost 3D effect that makes you feel like
you’re in the same room as the band.
Even if you own all four of these EP’s,
they’re probably just gathering dust
in a box somewhere, and this is music that
very much deserves to be played every day,
preferably as loud as possible. – Jim
Testa
