The Blind Shake
(Learning Curve)
Minneapolis indie guitar rock has two well-known permutations: the Twin/Tone punk/power pop contingent as exemplified by the Replacements, Soul Asylum and Hüsker Dü, and the noisier, more mid-fi Amphetamine Reptile gang led by AmRep owner/Halo of Flies leader Tom Hazelmeyer. (We'll forget the Jayhawks and Prince for the purpose of argument.) Power trio the Blind Shake fall in between those two extremes - too grungy to fit in with the Midwestern alt.rock folks, but too melodic and song-oriented to be AmRep noisemongers. The band also has a surf rock jones - "No Rags" and "Hurracan" revolve around slicing reverbed guitar spears and lickety-split drum pounding straight out of Dick Dale's wilder dreams.
t the meat of Seriousness, the Shake's third LP, is the tribal postpunk rock of "Man Leaves House," O'Rider" and "Out of Work," which blasts out of the garage without careening into and splattering all over the walls. That task is left to "Busy Body," which sounds like the band is taking its name to the furthest extreme by vibrating into atoms as loudly as possible. "On Me," which would be a ballad if not for the pained howling, gives a relative respite, but otherwise Seriousness just rages and roars.
DOWNLOAD: "Out of Work," "O'Rider," "Man Leaves House" MICHAEL TOLAND
