Second album for Shores, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and yes, so far, they didn't get the attention or recognition they deserve, and they are back, plowing the same slowcore ground as ever.
I mentioned them for "Coup de Grace" and I'll do it again for their follower, it's obvious, their sound owes some absolute debt to bands such as Codeine, Seam, The New Year/Bedhead, C-Clamp or Low. But well it is such a depopulated style of music with like, at best, only one new band embracing decently the genre every leap year, that getting your hands on such a record is like finding a new biotope for black truffles.
They could almost add the mention "bottled during the 90’s", as their sound totally perspires this indie era, with even a light touch of slacker attitude similar to Bedhead, counterbalanced by the right level of tension and a right dose of minimalism giving the necessary space to distortion.
Eleven songs and I could be almost each time the same song for the neophyte as they really belong to their own niche and never go outside this paced slowness, and if the mood is reflexive and mostly melancholic, they avoid depressive pitfalls and just stay on the verge of what could have been theatrically dramatic, delivering finally just a picture of everyday ennui and little joys.
“To Volstead” starts quite well with “ Pulitzer”, “All the Allotropies”, “Faith Hill”, “To Volstead” and “Humoring”. There are no hesitations or approximations in their sound, but slowly through the tracks you get the feeling they encapsulated themselves in a kind of formulaic approach as the second part of the album is mostly redundant with the first part but clearly lacks of surprise.
The A-side is a real success but the B-side is just full of b-sides and they could have opened such tracks with more degrees of freedom, opening new doors and directions, giving even more contrast to their successful tracks.
http://shoressite.tumblr.com/
http://shores.bandcamp.com/
http://www.noidearecords.com
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