FOLIO
by Jack Diablo
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Let It Die is the Shaky Hands’ second release since signing with Kill Rock Stars and is chock full of jangly indie-folk rock goodness. On it, the Portland, OR band draw from a variety of influences including 60’s rock a la the Who and My Aim Is True-era Elvis Costello among others, combining them all to produce something familiar and easily enjoyable without being derivative.
As the story goes, frontman Nicholas Delffs took a month and a half sabbatical from the band to recharge in India after concluding their recent tour with the Meat Puppets. Even though the trip had a profound impact on the songwriter, the inspiration he received from Indian music materialized itself as something that was nothing of the sort, straight-up rock and roll.
What stands out the most are the vocals. My first thought was Alejandro Escovedo followed by Adam Stephens (Two Gallants) and Joshua Grubb (VietNam). The guitars are pretty impressive as well complementing the rootsy vocals perfectly. The Shanky Hands manage to cover all their bases without spreading themselves too thin. The title track is a bare bones rock tune that opens up with a bang. “Never Fine” begins with a jangly acoustic guitar counter-balanced by a steady drum beat. A nice electric lead remains subdued until about halfway through when the sleeping giant awakens for a sweet little solo and then hangs around for a bit to accompany the rhythm. In “Caught In the Storm,” they exercise their inner Allman Brothers on a jammy guitar solo that could afford to last another minute or two, something I would hope they expound upon during the live show.
From there the album shifts gears into a mellower Side B. “Don’t Fail Me Now” evokes the faintest hint of Widespread Panic while the ballad “Gonna Hold You Tonight” slows it down even further. Fortunately the rocking isn’t completely absent from the second half of the album as “Allison and the Ancient Eyes” keeps the energy of the album alive. It seems as though Delff’s time in India did manage to worm its way into this record after all as the backup vocals sing everyone’s favorite Hare Krishna chant during the chorus. Even though this tamer end of the album may have you longing for the rocking intensity of the first few tracks, it’s actually pretty nice to have the option of rocking to side a or chilling out to side b. Point, the Shaky Hands.
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