Tour Dates 07/04/08 1982 Bar Gainesville, Florida
07/04/08 The Atlantic Gainesville, FL 07/05/08 Big Monster Fest Jupiter, FL 07/06/08 Eclipse Riverside/Avondale, FL 07/07/08 Secret Squirrel Athens, AL 08/29/08 Bottletree Cafe Birmingham, AL |
I hate punk. I loathe "garage rock." And flatout despise any sort of music that is described as *-core. I like my music professional, well-crafted, and slick: none of that "lo-fi" recorded-in-some-jackasses-basement-on-a-Tascam-4track shite for me. So why, then, do I actually like We Vs. The Shark?
We Vs. The Shark is a loud, wild, thrashin' kind of pseudo-punk band from the music capitol of the southern states, Athens, Georgia--so it's only right that their music has a very strong B-52s influence. Information about the band is scarce, though we do know the group is composed of Luke Fields, Samantha Paulsen (why does the keyboard player always have to be a girl, and vice-versa?), Scott Smith, and Jeffrey Tobias, and they are mostly known for their energetic, ca-razy live shows. Jeff Tobias also works with Pegasuses-XL and Dark Meat, neither of whom I've ever heard of, but that's neither here nor there. What is here is a band whose latest album, Dirty Versions (on Hello Sir Records), was recorded "nearly live" in only two days to capture to spirit and power of their live shows...and if this album accurately captures the essence of their live performance, then I definitely want to see this band live.
Dirty Versions sounds like the twisted, mutated result of a high-speed collision involving the aforementioned B-52, Mister Bungle, and The Melvins. Despite being recorded "almost live," the mixing and production on this record is slick and clean: every instrument is clearly heard, which is vital when you're dealing with complicated arrangements like these. The music of We Vs. The Shark courts certain definitions while always ducking and weaving through them. Some songs have a grinding, heavy-metal feel to them; others are jumpy, almost poppy tunes. None of them sit still long enough to pin a definite classification to them, though, which makes songs like "Gothic Y'all" and "Mr. Ego Death" almost impossible to describe. There are grinding guitars, crashing drums, screams, howls, weird electronic sweeps. There are blast beats that would make Dragonforce proud followed by slow, quiet sections. There's a lot of energy packed into these songs, and it literally explodes from your speakers in tracks like "I Am The Contempt Machine" and "Keep It Wolf."
I hate The Dillinger Escape Plan, and in some ways, We Vs. The Shark reminds me of them--but in a good way. If you take Dillinger and strip out the abominable hardcore elements, but keep all the power of their music while adding a dose of melody and humor, you've got We Vs. The Shark, a band that exceeds all reflexive comparison and has an identity all its own. Fortunately, that identity is close enough to a number of different genres to draw a diverse crowd, all of whom will find something they like in We Vs. The Shark's music...and that's about the best thing you can offer as a band these days, especially one from a regional music Valhalla like Athens.
If this album has you itchin' to see the band live--as I (and they) no doubt hope it would--then you've got ample chances to see them in the next few days.