Shadow Theatre manage to sound sophisticated, experienced and youthful all at once, Getintothis’ Joseph Viney can only dance like a marionette to their fantastic sound.
It’s easy to look on the dark side of life. The world’s a horrible little hovel and taking the time to inspect your immediate surroundings is gifting yourself a one way ticket to despair.
Hmm, sorry. Are we getting you down? Every day is something of a struggle for us so you will have to forgive our maudlin disposition.
With all of this in mind, it’s a nice little boost when a great new record comes comes to our attention. This time it’s called Voices and comes courtesy of Liverpool four-piece The Shadow Theatre, an energetic quartet with a fine line in needling guitar hooks and a subtly powerful rhythm section.
Want to know another great thing about them? They do the whole hair-in-the-eyes-doomy-gloomy thing so much better than most other people. Thankfully they err on the side of caution when it comes to dwelling on negative emotions, instead dealing with them in terms of powerful tunes wrapped in power, focus and well-paced mores.
Voices is replete with songs with names like Violent Whispers, Conscious Dream and Ghosts. They’re deep songs with a moral and philosophical angle. They won’t be sitting around a table drinking Blue WKD talking about twerking or Russell Brand’s latest dunderheaded proclamation anytime soon. They’ve got their own thing going on, and we’re grateful for it.
Self-defined as ‘post-punk’, Shadow Theatre follow a very well defined line that goes from Joy Division to Interpol before alighting finally on our fair city’s latest classy export.
Andrew Gorge’s deep, reflective vocals take much from Interpol’s Paul Banks; a memorable croon that touches upon flashes of anger, sarcastic delivery and dark ripostes from one line to the next. His second-in-command, James Dalziel on lead guitar, makes with a maelstrom of perfect noise.
Mark Manning’s bass is clear and heavy, serving to act as the load-bearing weight on tracks like Ghosts, where his bandmates weave icy electronica with stuttering, reverb-laden guitar.
Shaun Parker on drums pounds out a style similar to former Joy Division and New Order thumper Stephen Morris. Parker’s approach brings forth deft and light touches that act as propulsion for this most energetic of bands.
Much is made every year of the nights drawing in and the weather inheriting a certain chill. Now you have the perfect group to face it with. The Shadow Theatre are finally stepping out of the dark. Come hither and be a part of it.
For further information and to buy a copy of Voices, click here for the Shadow Theatre’s official website.
Further reading on Getintothis:
FestEVOL part one feat. The Shadow Theatre
Liverpool Calling: St. Luke’s Church – picture gallery feat. The Shadow Theatre
Dead Wolf Club, The Shadow Theatre, Enamel Animal: Mello Mello, Liverpool
Wolf Alice, The Shadow Theatre, Mohebbi: The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool
