Sholi – Sholi
I remember being really excited when I first heard a demo from these guys, one which their label circulated when they signed them a couple of months ago. No time has been wasted in getting this album out into the big wide world however, so I’m guessing it was largely ready to go at the time Touch & Go/Quarterstick snapped them up.
In terms of descriptions, I guess you could slap this under that all-emcompassing, so broad as to be largely meaningless umbrella we call indie rock. There’s a good, base* growl to it, out which break little flourishes of something more melodic or, from time to time, something more jerky and angular. For the most part, however, this album tends to build its songs to a good pace and let them run with it – the sort of pace which inspires just a little bit of table drumming at the desk at Proper Job, to the raised eyebrows of all around.
The don’t rely on verse-bridge-chorus constructions either, which I really like. There’s a shape to the whole song, generally, and the bit which gets its claws into you can be anything from a sudden, barking guitar detour to a more traditionally harmonised chorus. This keeps you on your toes, because you can’t relax into that ‘here comes the bit I should pay attention to’ lazy listening which indie rock can often induce.
For such a short album, there’s an awful lot packed in as well, from shoegaze to pop, from the sombre to the (kind of) bouncy. A couple of the later songs are less strong than their earlier cousins, I would suggest, but this is still well worth your cash. A really promising debut, in my opinion.
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*No, I don’t mean bass, I mean base.
Matthew,
Thanks for the introduction to Sholi – good stuff! Love what you have done with this blog, awesome job! Nice to be back among blogging friends….
Just downloaded “All That We Can See” from your site and added it to iTunes. However, it looks as if I already have a version of this, added to the library in January 2007! How weird. Didn’t recognise it at all, which is not surprising as apparently it has only been played once. Evidently shuffle doesn’t like it for some reason. Haven’t the foggiest idea where I got it from. Thanks for pointing me back in the direction of Sholi – two excellent tracks.
Jonny – I think it’s been around as a demo for a while. I first heard it sometime last Autumn, so i may well have been around long before that. This is probably a different version though, so don’t over-write!
Merz – Thanks, there’s been an almighty fuck of a lot of work done in 2008, really there has. Still, we’re getting a full makeover in a couple of months, the record label has *some* income and the sessions are queueing up, so 2009 might be even better/worse depending on whether or not you’re a reader or my liver. Nice to see you back, mate. Very good news.
Nice. I’m hearing a bit of a late 90s post-rock vibe here which I haven’t heard in a while. That cover art is lovely.
Yes, it is quite 90s, isn’t it. The demos were a little different which is why it’s taken me a while to review this – I was adjusting from what I expected to what I was actually presented with. It’s a good album.
i’m liking…..i’m liking it a lot….i shall endeavor to explore and find out more……at this moment i’m hearing loads of different reference points going around….one is Fugazi…i’m i wrong?
Personally I am not really hearing the Fugazi influence. What I hear is Tortoise, the Sea & Cake, and the For Carnation.
well you must have a better musical knowledge than moi…..but i can definitely hear a lot of something i like going on….
All these influences are a little over my head, I have to confess.
yeah, it felt like i was playing Indie Poker – I’ll see your Fugazi and raise you a Tortoise, Sea & Cake and For Carnation – think i lost
Well excuuuuuse me. Now you’ve gone and made me feel old and condescending at the same time. Bastards.
Tortoise and the Sea & Cake were both big deals in the late 90s on the Thrill Jockey label in Chicago, and the For Carnation were (and are) labelmates of Sholi at Touch & Go/Quarterstick. The For Carnation is Britt Walford and Brian McMahan from Slint plus some other guys. And John McEntire, the drummer from Tortoise, has worked as a producer and honorary member of Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Smog, Teenage Fanclub, The Pastels, the Fiery Furnaces, etc. His drumming technique seems particularly front and center on these Sholi tunes.
So there.
for a second there i thought i was on wikitoad
I love your description of lazy indie music. So accurate. It is nice to find a group that demands the attention of the listener
Ooh, don’t they go on?
I should apologise for sounding a note of dissent, but these two tracks are terrible.
That first track is just them practising, right? Someone left the tape running in the studio while they warmed up? Guys, seriously, if you book a recording studio, try writing something before you turn up!
The second track at least suggests they prepared something, but for such a long track it doesn’t go anywhere at all. I thought the title was going to relate to the content of the song, not how long it feels like you’re listening to it!
And all that chopping and changing between styles? Far from grabbing the listener’s attention, it just sounds like a sixth form garage band trying to show off. Regrettably, however, there’s not a lot here in terms of performance or songwriting craft to show off about, so it just ends up coming across as terribly self-indulgent.
Awful. Sorry.
Grandstanding again are we Dylan?
Business as usual.
I do like the cover art though.
Ah well. At least you’d have something nice to look at as you slipped into indie boredom.
o….Dylan i get accused of this all the time….but are you just saying black to our white, just for the hell of it and you really kinda of like these tracks?
No, I genuinely think they’re shit.
herm, clicked through wrong and ended up leaving a note for the low anthem on accident. pardon!
as I was saying: Love Sholi. Bunch of nice guys to boot. And if you can catch them live, DO IT. Def an experience.
these tracks are both excellent, thanks for posting them. i hope these guys come overseas sometime soon….i’d be sure to check them out.