Search - Shalini :: Metal Corner

Needs an edge to make it cut deep

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 10/14/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ever since Shalini Chatterjee moved into Mitch Easter's personal and production orbits, the albums she has done under the name of Vinyl Devotion and then her own first name have featured generic cover art. This may reflect unintentionally the contents. Easter's skills as musician and studio whiz need no introduction, and the guitars as expected crunch nicely, backed solidly by Let's Active drummer Eric Marshall. The results start off promising, with the catchy mid-tempo first song and a fantastic cover of Cheap Trick's Downed that does better the original, no mean feat. If you like the early CT, you'd like Shalini.



Trouble is, the rest of the tunes follow the same mid-tempo, hard rock but not metal, not alternative, not pop, formula. They chug along efficiently at the same pace. None of them are bad, but after ten times, the same beat simply lacks variety. The last song revives a nasty guitar stutter that shows a bit of difference, but it ends quickly when developing the riff and the melody further would have been exciting.



Perhaps this is unavoidable. Easter's first band with female co-singers, Let's Active, had also vocals that strained a bit too highly, male and female, that offset the depth in the music and production. With his former partner Angie Carlson, a later LA member, he cut an album under the name of Grover, which was similar to Shalini. The singers Easter backs tend to have pleasant voices, but too reminiscent of the girl next door trying too hard to sound a bit tougher than she really can sustain. The pitch of the vocals on Shalini tends to lack the range needed to play off the musical backing's more assertive stance. This quality in Easter's bands (also seen in his production work with Shalini C's earlier partner Scott Miller and his band Game Theory--and his pre-Shalini partner on lead and backing female vocals: confusing?) does weaken somewhat the layered guitar structures and rich studio touches that characterize Easter's sound.



Look up Shalini's alter ego, Econoghost, where she and Mitch do the Krautrock groove to more varied and interesting effects. Metal Corner does not have enough sharp edges for it to cut deep into the synapses, but it is a consistent collection of brief, punchy songs. Perhaps best taken at smaller portions, the songs stand out a bit more than when they blur together one after the other. Not bad at all, again, but a bit of a letdown considering the musicians' prior achievements."

All the key ingredients...this album ROCKS!!

J. Evans | WilmyWood USA | 04/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a powerful album! Often "pop rock" lacks substance, musicianship, and/or power. This CD from Shalini has all the above, in spades! One can whiff the fragrance of AC/DC, Cheap Trick, and The Raspberries, though it never gets derivitive. This excellent collection of songs really gets hits its stride with the third track, "Heartbreaking Machine" which features an irresistable hook, a singable chorus, and absolutely fiery guitar playing from legendary guitarist/producer Mitch Easter. Among the other many standout tracks are "Infrared" and "Synthesize". Former Let's Active drummer Eric Marshall also contributes mightily to Shalini's catchy songs. This one is a winner! Can't wait for the next one!"