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Artist: The Shake
Album: Kick It
Website: www.wearetheshake.com | MySpace
Ever go over to the beauty counter for that special someone? Of course! Everybody has! You start sniffing the perfume testers and by the twentieth one, your olfactory lobes have ceased functioning. This is kind of how listening to one pop/punk, alternative rock band after another starts to sound. Their sound is the equivalent of a million other perfumes assaulting your senses. After a while, the auditory nerves in one's head say, "I quit! I'm outta here!" Sometimes though, you find one that stands out—a cut above the rest.
Since the formation of The Shake back in the summer of 2005, this musically eclectic quartet—consisting of frontman Jon Merkin, lead guitarist Eliad Shapiro, bass player Jeremy Stein, and drummer Andrew McNellis—has frolicked in the pleasures of sharing a stage with the likes of the Living End, and treated New York City's most prominent rock clubs with their own masterfully brewed fragrance of rock and roll.
They unabashedly push their opinion of how rock should be played, which, after hearing them, will undoubtedly have you agreeing with their point of view.
Lead singer Jon Merkin points out that he has become "disenchanted with the soulless, assembly-line music of contemporary bands that carbon-copy the sounds of their influences and then get lost in the shuffle." One can see this is a man who believes in that old cliche, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." I guess Merkin and crew became fed up with waiting around for alternative saviors and decided to become their own. Thank God for that!
During their journey through the Big Apple and tristate area, The Shake managed to collect an endless supply of loyal listeners.
The melodies and harmonies in their music migrate up the time period, blending the sixties' pure hard-rock montage into the mid-to-late seventies. Much of their music is reminiscent of The Kinks and The Clash. On "Devil's Side", a track off of their self-released CD, Kick It, one would swear some J. Guiles Band's "Freeze Frame", was thrown in for good measure.
Concluding the venture, their musical style reaches its final destination—the early eighties—where one would look if they were searching for punk and pop-rock artists who actually show potential for longevity in a business that makes walking a tight rope, without a net, seem safe.
The experience of listening to The Shake's raucously, rowdy, rebellious music—like "Manic Boogie"—who's title is an exercise in musical onomatopoeia, can be described with this scenario: Wayne's World dream music please...
Your hanging out in a night club with your chums, waiting for some band of the unknown to emerge on the world's smallest stage. When they finally appear and you hear them perform, you can't help but turn your head and pay close attention. Their melodies, their vibrant beat, their rip-roaring, ever-riveting energy, the catchy, witty lyrics, sung with a pirate's smile, are absolutely engaging. No matter how you try, you can't turn away from it. It sucks you in like a giant Hoover. It grabs hold of you, as if you've just wrapped your fingers around a lightning rod during a thunderstorm.
Here's where the kicker comes in. You're watching this band with your mouth rudely agape. Why is that, you ask? Because the moment you turn around, expecting to see a bunch of middle-aged dudes, who just so happen to know something about playing guitars and drums, you see a foursome of baby faces. GASP! Yes, these fine young gentlemen, who barely look old enough to be Bar Mitzvahed, are playing like vintage virtuosos that have enjoyed the fruits of proving their longevity in such a precarious and unpredictable business.
Still skeptical? You want to talk tracks? Okay, let's talk tracks.
"Manic Boogie" has a definite boogie/funk scent. It contains all the necessary ingredients for radio play on an alternative rock station: clever lyrics, rebellious teen angst, catchy, clear and delivered coherently. Jon Merkin's strong vocals, with just a touch of raspy, lends the right attitude to his melodic singing. Rich-rhythm guitar strumming, along with a bass and drum backing, ingeniously blended, makes for a definite soar-up-the-Billboard-charts hit.
"Prince and Kings" gives the listener a whiff of The Shake's experimental side. It contains richly-defined melodies. This particular song can't be classified as alternative. This is rock the way rock was done when we had people who knew how to play it!
"Devil's Side's" heavy bass, courtesy of Mr. Stein, almost screams the Beatle's mersey beat. The harmonies are strong with clever lyrics to match.
"Dyin'" shows The Shake are versatile, knowing what playing the blues is really all about. Once again, Eliad's lead guitar waltzes and weeps its way with clear, concise picking. It's too grungy to call it pop rock, but it's so smoothly delivered and smartly executed, one would think this guitarist was an old soul inside a new body.
"8 O'Clock" is raw, electric guitar strumming, 24-carat-gold harmonies, smooth, sweet vocals—but not the sugary kind of bubble gum crap heard on top 40's stations. The British mersey beat figures strongly in this formula. Andrew McNellis' drumming is so ingeniously designed to make one's head shake vigorously... then SURPRISE! The bridge kicks into a slow tempo, with driving rhythms, backing up an intriguing lead guitar solo, humbly launched by our awesome friend, Mr. Shapiro. He certainly knows what to do with an electric guitar. He makes reinventing rock and roll sound so elementary.
Let's face it, The Shake has definite talent—pure and simple. If Jon Merkin's charismatic, sexy vocals and rebellious attitude don't spring at you like a wild wolf, then the melodies and rhythms will!
This is the kind of stuff that makes mild-mannered folk jump up on desks, in reckless abandonment, and act out the last scene from "Dead Poet's Society", because the beat, the rhythm, the gutsy "come-and-get-me" lyrics, sung like someone has a Cheshire-Cat smile crazy-glued to their face, are beyond irresistible.
Someone needs to explain why this band isn't on the radio yet...What? Not commercial enough? Doesn't have a gimmick? Well, Duh! That's what pure, unadulterated, long-lasting alternative punk/rock is! No commercials! No gimmicks! It's so ridiculously good, all-natural rock.
When the music is this incredible, you don't need flamboyance, over-wrought with cheesy commercialism. This band is so good, it's anyone's guess why they haven't been granted the exposure and laud they so richly deserve! Their album will be in stores May 15th.
you rock waiting for the new album Roy Doliner can't wait for the new album. whos gonna be on the cover? Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! ddwnfcynpzt |
