Shannon and the Clams Dreams of Being a Rat Review
Shannon And The Clams
Dreams In The Rat House
Inappreciably Art Records [2013]
Burn Notation Says: l'due south rock 'n' roll meets 60's garage on this cluttered collection.
Album Review: There are lots of "retro-stone" or "neo-garage" bands out at that place these days who play gritty, 60s-inspired tunes. Shannon and the Clams differentiate themselves from all those other bands by adding a sizable dose of rough and tumble 50s stone to the mix, which helps them sound at to the lowest degree somewhat unique. On their fourth album (outset for Hardly Art) the ring turns in a rather mixed set of songs, only they're helped by both their sheer energy and dedication to their distinctive personality.
The anthology is spring-started to life with "Hey Willie," an upbeat 50s-way rocker complete with trebly guitar picking and "yeah-yeah" backing vocals. The trend is continued on "Rip Van Winkel," with its Crickets (every bit in Buddy Holly'south band)-style background singing and lyrics well-nigh… well… Rip Van Winkel. It's besides where most listeners will realize that the vocals they heard in the first song were indeed lead singer Shannon Shaw, who's voice tin sound feminine when needed but mostly takes on a (Seeds lead vocalizer) Sky Saxon-esque snarl. Her vocals are used to full effect on the next runway, "Bed Rock," which features a chunky riff and machine gun drums that get in audio similar something The Monks might have come upwards with.
The album's production is decidedly "retro" besides, just while information technology works most of the fourth dimension it tin get a little onetime to hear the aforementioned "lo-fi" distortion on each and every rails. And that sameness is indicative of a larger event: the nagging sense that Shannon and the Clams are a one-pull a fast one on pony. Afterwards the initial novelty wears off, the anthology starts to drag, with a definite lull in the middle where song after song sounds like variations on the start three tracks. Thankfully, things do start to pick up well-nigh the end: "The Rabbits Nose" features a nice atomic number 82 guitar line and a catchy chorus, while "Heads or Tails" switches things up vocally, bringing in some of Shaw'due south most "feminine" sounding background vocals against a driving beat. "Into a Dream" finds the ring doing their all-time daughter group impression, which is hinted at elsewhere merely fully committed to hither.
The album ends with the call-and-response march "I Know," which features the advisable lyric "I know / I know / You lot gotta go / I gotta go." The rail slowly builds into a fast-paced rave up, but given the energy displayed on other tracks it feels like a bit of a letdown in comparison. The album as a whole isn't a letdown, but it isn't a triumph either—in that location are some very good songs here as well as some filler, simply what keeps it together is the ring'south individuality. This is a practiced thing, simply it's also worrying—consistency is ane affair; stagnation is quite another.
Key Tracks: "Rip Van Winkel", "The Rabbits Olfactory organ", "Into a Dream"
Artists With Similar Fire: Wanda Jackson / The Seeds / The Dead Weather
Shannon And The Clams Website
Shannon And The Clams Facebook
Hardly Art Records
-Reviewed by Simon Workman
- Author
- Recent Posts
Simon Workman has loved rock n' whorl ever since his dad fabricated him Beatles and Beach Boys mix tapes every bit a kid. These days his musical interests have a broad range, though he's still got a potent connexion to the music of the 60s and 70s. He lives in Dayton and is currently working on a PhD in English literature at the Academy of Cincinnati. Y'all can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @simonworkman.
Source: https://thefirenote.com/reviews/shannon-and-the-clams-dreams-in-the-rat-house-album-review/
0 Response to "Shannon and the Clams Dreams of Being a Rat Review"
Postar um comentário