The Shivering "& Brand the Ground With Storm and Song" CD
[Alone]
I didn't know what to expect from this band at all, though I correctly guessed that it would be indie rock-ish stuff, and I (probably unfairly) expected it to be pretty good since Paul Ponitkoff from Vulgar Pigeons is in the band... but, in all honesty, it is actually pretty damn good. It's a collection CD with a bunch of previously released vinyl material, including the "Of the Liars", "Brand the Lion's Mouth", and "Wires of Storm and Song" 7"s, the "To the Ground" 10", and a track from the "Wayfarers All" compilation. Stylistically it's basically straightforward indie rock that's not at all typical in my opinion. It's energetic, somewhat catchy, and somewhat jagged/angular, but it's not too much of any of that, and there are some solid changeups with slower passages, slight heaviness, a few more rhythmic elements, etc. The vocals are basically dry yells, very effective I might add, at times leaning towards restrained singing. At times the guitar layering gets a little loose and choppy, but nothing I'd call sloppy, and the rhythm section stays pretty dead on throughout. Though they sound nothing alike, musically there are definitely a few subtle Fugazi-isms happening at times, usually in the form of melodic dissonance or structural devices (see "Brand the Lion's Mouth"); but on the other hand songs like "Of the Liars" and "Forged" are definitely heading in a different vein, one slightly more melodic and rocked out (in a quirky manner). "To the Ground", by stark contrast, is far noisier and more caustic at times, keeping melody to a minimum and really hitting on the elements of this type of style that I hate. They barely pull it off in this piece, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad that few tracks on this disc follow this framework. But that's made up for by total winners like the truly memorable "Lay Down". It's funny, because after a few spins I start noticing that some of these songs, most notably "Weave", have a bit of that whole "punk/folk" thing happening (which is very hard for me to explain), especially with the vocal arrangements, but this particular song is far better than most of that stuff. The last two songs aren't mentioned anywhere on the packaging, so I'm not clear on what the deal is there. Surprisingly enough, the recordings are really quite similar here. Things are a little dry and rugged, with a good bite to the distortion, and lots of low-end power to the bass tone alongside natural percussion. Guitars are usually a little prominent in the mix, but everything has its own space and importance, so I like it. I'm definitely impressed by the consistency of the various recording sessions as well. Nice work there. The disc is housed in a nice chipboard digipack with red, white, and black printing as well as a black and white booklet with a few additional band photos and lyrics. I actually quit enjoy the lyrics, as they carry a serious message without being too blunt or open, so there's plenty of room for interpretation and suggestion: "But now I'll build a reply, A monolith to all this trying, Subliminal, yet so effective, And I can scrape it down, Smooth in all the jagged edges, Watch you crumble in decay, Apply the flame, Burn it in, I'll burn it in." Not bad. I'm really into 50% of it, 25% of it is alright, and 25% I'm not a fan of. So... more good than bad. There are only a handful of killer songs, but it's a solid representation of what they do, and I wouldn't be opposed to checking out other work of theirs. (6/10)
Running time - 45:05, Tracks: 15
[Notable tracks: Of the Liars, Lay Down, Forged, Weave]
Alone Records - http://www.alonerecords.com

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