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The Shackeltons - A Raw And Creative Lo-Fi Alternative Punk

Mark | East Coast | 03/18/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Shackeltons



The Shackelton's self-titled album is full of energy and presents an in-your-face mix of punk, noise, lo-fi and alternative rock. This is a very interesting take and a strong first album.



It's too bad so many reviewers have panned this album. This is a very specific type of alternative music. The oversimplified lyrics and stock guitar chords are intentional in this genre. If you're into lo-fi punk alternative and noise rock, you will find a lot to love here.



The vocals are decidedly lo-fi. The simple spoken word transitions to screeching and screaming are punk rock staples.



The machine gun bass and rhythm guitars provide the alternative rock part of the sound equation. And the military drums and voice effects provide a strong punk rock backdrop.



The vocals do sound a lot like the Pixies. And many of their riffs and drum sequences sound like they were copied identically from the White Stripes. A great example of that is "The Breaks." Still, this band is meant to sound raw and doesn't even have the cleanness of the White Stripes.



On tracks like "Emergency," they are clearly channeling early Radiohead songs like "Creep" from the Pablo Honey album. The song has a much more soft melodic feel than most of the album, with softer echo tunnel vocals layered on top. Yet that's the exception. Most of the tracks on this album are closer to "The Breaks."



The best track on this album is probably "Madeline." It has a clean fast rhythm and cool bass and guitar licks under the standard minimal vocals and lyrics.



For Fans Of:



Morningwood Morningwood

The Pixies Doolittle

The Replacements All Shook Down

Kings of Leon Because of the Times

Radiohead Pablo Honey

Sonic Youth Daydream Nation

The White Stripes Icky Thump

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones

Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand



Overall this is an awesome first album in this genre. Check it out!



Enjoy.

"

I like it raw -- great, edgy guitar work, rough vocals, a so

Nathan Andersen | Florida | 03/14/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I really like every song on this album and they have grown on me with each listen. My favorite is probably the opening song, "Your Movement": "Shame on all of us ... We held a lifeless form in our arms, and we didn't know, it was love." "Emergency" and "Yellow Cadillac" are unexpectedly tender and moving and sad. This band has something special -- and I wish I could have seen them in some of the early gigs in small bars playing to a mixture of excitement and incomprehension, since that's what this music really seems to grow from.



I don't really like to play the album as a whole all the way through because back to back it can get to be too much -- this kind of rough and edgy music is great when you mix it up with other listens. Another way of putting this: the Shackeltons would be a great album to put on an iPod on shuffle, just be sure to mix in some upbeat and catchy alt pop or mellow and angsty sounds, as a reprieve from the slightly heavy but never less than moving music on this album. The album reminds me a bit of the feel I got from listening to The Chameleons UK back in high school -- the lead singer's voice reminds me of a punked up and pissed off version of the lead on Cake (and, yes, Franz Ferdinand and the Killers, etc are obvious comparisons). Anyhow, I'll definitely keep this on my iPod, and will be on the lookout for the follow up. This is good stuff."

Not Really My Cup of Tea, but My Gal Pal Loved it

Ophella Paige | Reno, Nevada | 03/19/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Though I must admit I like the first song, "Your Movement". I kind of thought it reminded me of the Doors and that made me think the record might have more promise than it actually did. For me, it kind of went down hill after that song, but for my friend Danielle, a big fan of both dinosaur and emo music, she thought it took off. Scremo to the max I thought, couldn't wait for it to be over. Dani plays it all the time. So there you go, I don't particularly like it, she loves it. Add one and five together and divide by two and you get three and that's how many stars I've giving this record. Pretty fair I think."