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Contributed Reviews Reviews Archive |
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Shiner - The Egg (DeSoto Records) Album review by Mark Cuthbertson
The Egg is a departure from most Shinerisms: no raw, super-distorted anthems reminiscent of Splay, nothing as simple and refined as Lula Divinia, and not the grab bag of short catchy songs found on Starless. Each member has grown to accommodate these more complex and demanding songs. Allen Epley’s vocal range is considerably broadened on this album than its predecessors, and roughly a third of the songs feature his falsetto voice. Paul Malinowski plays his most supportive and groove-oriented bass lines (no abandoning the bass line for bendy solos this time). A caffeine-crazed Jason Gerken displays a new level of precision and explosiveness that perfectly grounds the richly layered complexities of Epley’s and Josh Newton’s meandering guitar parts. After a first listen, the album’s thematic cohesion and longer song lengths were most apparent. Few of the songs grabbed me immediately the first time (except for “Surgery,” the closest thing to a radio single on the disc), and most of them scrambled together in my memory. However, all of the songs steadily grew on me as I spun it a few more times. Before long, I’d decided that some of my favorite Shiner tunes are hatchlings from this album, and it may be the best front-to-back listen the band has put out so far. Starless hasn’t spent much time out of my CD players since its release, but I already like a larger portion of The Egg. This album has plenty of appeal for existing Shinists and the newly shined-upon alike. The Egg’s songs range from mellow (“The Top of the World,” “Stoned”) to laid back and dynamic (The Truth About Cows,” “The Simple Truth,” “Spook the Herd”) to rockers (“Surgery,” “Play Dead,” “Pills”). Its title track is dark and eerie and really blows up at the end. The mathy and mostly-instrumental “Andalusia” will appeal even to those who normally need lyrics to remain interested. The words “dark, trippy, and psychedelic” could describe much of the album, but those words apply especially to “Bells and Whistles,” “The Simple Truth,” “Pills,” and “Spook the Herd.” The Egg is challenging yet refreshing; daring, but extraordinarily successful; busy, yet cohesive; complex, yet accessible; atmospheric, but with plenty of energy to spare. On the following scale, I award The Egg a rating of 4.5:
0 – The band laid one. Visit their site, http://www.shiner.net -- it’s one of the best band sites I’ve seen.
--Mark Cuthbertson
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Each Shiner album has had its own distinct flavors…and personnel. For the first time in the band’s history, the entire lineup appeared on the previous album, and their latest release is the first completely written with current members.