Drawing on garage influences as varied as Count Five
and the Hives, The Shake has a sound at once current
and somewhat timeless. The great sweeps and surges
of whah-whah guitar strains throughout Kick It feel
fresh again and neatly interwoven into the endless,
crashing powerchords.
The blissfully sloppy chug of tracks like “Manic
Boogie” incite a reckless energy despite the
stuck-in-the-sixties shoutouts against square dudes
that force other people to cut their hair and turn
their music down. But the layered, frenetic electric
jolt toward the end of the track rallies, lifting the
melody upward into the ranks of other revivalist revolutionaries
(Kings of Leon comes to mind).
The brief disc (under half an hour, with a bonus track!)
reaches a quick crest, as highlight track “Outcast” shifts
and morphs through a handful of tonalities and timechanges.
Frantic garage buzz slowly morphs into a wash of voice
and cymbal finally settling into a shuffling, bustling
beehive of fuzz before asking the inevitable question, “What
can you do?” in a nasally drawl reminiscent of
Oasis’ famous frontmen.
“Stop Fighting” finds the group playing
dress up in the psychedelic duds of the first wave
of garage, spewing lines cut straight from some love-in,
acid flashback jag, “Love is all around you /
Love is all around.” As soon as the Shake learns
to utilize the voice of its members’ generation
(and not those of their parents’), this band
could be one to watch.
Favorite Track: “Outcast”
