Shellshag
Rumors in Disguise
Don Giovanni
Shellshag are a throwback band in the sense they sound like any number of ’90s bands – The Pixies, The Breeders, L7, The Lemonheads, Weezer, and Sonic Youth – without sounding exactly like any one of them. Shellshag are also a throwback band in the way they recall the days when being alt or indie didn’t require one to be literary, obtuse, difficult, or forsake simple song structures and big melodies for the sake of being different. From track one through track fifteen the guitars are loud, fuzzy and crunchy, the choruses are direct and immediate, the vocals of Shell (guitars) and Shag (drums) are both familiar and confident, and the tempo is unrelenting. As for highlights, start with “1984,” “Resilient Bastard,” “Means That Much,” “Crashing Rockets,” and “Flowers for Julie.” Those would be tracks one through five. Then, let the album play out from there. There isn’t one unhummable dud in the bunch. 8 out of 10 on The Rockometer.
