The Shirks – The Shirks (Grave Mistake Records)
Conventional wisdom would suggest that improving the standards of quality applied to the component parts of any creation would constitute an overall improvement. It’s doubtful there would be any arguments with a stronger roof on a building or a car with more responsive brakes. But when it comes to the construction of rock songs, sometimes worse is better, and The Shirks are an excellent example of this.
The Shirks – The Shirks (Grave Mistake Records)
Conventional wisdom would suggest that improving the standards of quality applied to the component parts of any creation would constitute an overall improvement. It’s doubtful there would be any arguments with a stronger roof on a building or a car with more responsive brakes. But when it comes to the construction of rock songs, sometimes worse is better, and The Shirks are an excellent example of this. Their 2011 EP Cry Cry Cry was a solid garage punk release, nothing that hadn’t been done before, but certainly not bad for what it was. Their newest full-length, on the other hand (if that’s an accurate description of a fourteen-minute record – I suppose it’s a relative term), doesn’t exactly find the band reinventing themselves, but it does present their material in a rougher, rawer form that highlights everything they can do well by emphasizing the more fucked-sounding parts of their approach.
This light manhandling the band has done to their songs puts them over the top. First, the material on their newest opts for a more streamlined concision that sacrifices accessibility in favor of an aggression that wasn’t always readily apparent on their older releases. Whereas the previous EP featured songs in the two- to three-minute range, fewer than half present on the follow-up break a hundred and twenty seconds (and two of the three that do barely edge over that line). The catchiness isn’t sacrificed, but like a lot of the better bands playing this sort of thing – The Reatards, The Jabbers (when Mr. Jesus Allin was opting for songwriting instead of flinging excreta) – the quasi-proto-hardcore pacing helps maintain an energy that prevents the material from falling into the trap of being overtly reverent or retro. Similarly, the recording quality took a turn towards a lower fidelity, the sort of shitty-in-a-good-way fuzziness that might be harsh to a lot of ears but helps lend the material the sort of rough hewn quality that’s present with many of the better bands attempting this sort of thing.
Photo by Josh Sisk
So while The Shirks aren’t really doing anything that hasn’t been done before, the extent to which they’ve slimmed down and crapped up (in the best way possible) their songs demonstrate the brisk, adrenaline-rush quality of their music, and has helped their evolution from a good band to a killer one. The album’s brevity almost makes it feel over before it’s begun, but the songs’ ability to burrow their way into a listener’s head, remaining there whether they’re welcome or not, acts as a reminder that the band is functioning in a manner that’s far more effective than anything they’ve done to date, and far better executed than a great number of the bands attempting this sort of thing in recent years.
