Every reviewer dreads this e-mail (sent to me recently by a fellow reviewer): “Hey bud, I started a band! I’m sending you a copy, so be sure to review it …”
Better men have folded under the pressure. Me? I popped Alien Nation, which you can buy HERE , in like it wasn’t curated by a fellow Skyscraper Magazine — R.I.P. — contributor (Matthew V to you) and rocked the-fuck out.
Shallows A.D. possess a sound I just haven’t been exposed to much lately. They play loud guitars — yet they don’t come close to metal-militia status — and there’s a “Pop” to their music that says, “Hey, I probably won’t make it on the radio, but I could.”
This seems a horrible proposition on the surface, and there are moments — especially when the too-pixelated drums get pushed up front — where the combination doesn’t gel, namely “Thoughtcrime” and “Pain Play/Luxury.”
Stick with Alien Nation, however, and you’ll be rewarded. “Grand Enclave” sounds like Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal got hooked up with an acoustic guitarist and a slow-mo trip-hop beat and collaborated with Badly Drawn Boy. “Left Alive” has a few gorgeous instrumental breaks and splays lyrics across a jumbo screen in your mind; you won’t be forgetting them anytime soon.
As the record moves along you get a grab-bag of influences and styles. “Caress” floats a vocal that reminds me of the late-great Layne Staley overtop a surging sea of uptempo rhythm, distorted guitars and unnamed drones, then fades it all away for a short six-string break.
It works. So does the echo-cavern chanting of “Giallo” and the creepy-crawly chiming of “Suffer,” which, buried at slot no. 12, might be the best song here.
Then you have “Rat Rock.” It totes a dusty, dirty, bent-up riff and vocals straight from The Boggs‘ last album (thing is, most people didn’t HEAR Forts) and represents the can’t-miss effectiveness of a straight-up composition with frayed edges.
What I like most about Shallows A.D. is it isn’t afraid to take chances. There are 13 tracks here, and nearly all of them have a left-turn of some sort veering the listener in an uncomfortable direction. I can’t say the experiments always work, but that’s the breaks when you’re spinning the wheel and jumping off at any moment.
Here’s to neglecting to Play it Safe …
