With a style and sound that harkens back to ‘60s pop rock and a little punk and blues mixed in, Shem Sharples describes his sound as, “Lou Reed and Dylan meet The Clash.” Hailing from Chester, England the band is currently a duo with Shem Sharpies on vocals, guitar and a mean harmonica and Thor Brown on bass guitar. Their latest release And The Train Rattled Along is the first under the Shem Sharples name. Previously, the two musicians were part of a garage band called Rev Rev. They played under this name for 20 years and the DJ John Peel on BBC Radio championed one of their releases.
This current album was recorded in the band’s own studio and took over 14 months to complete. After a listen or two, I could definitely tell their was a Lou Reed/Velvet Underground influence but more than that, The Kinks, somewhere along the lines of “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” or “Well Respected Man” not so much, “You Really Got Me.” The opening song has that sound of the bands I’ve mentioned before with lots of harmonica. The line – “Don’t need the city lights, it’s too fast a pace” hits home the desire for England’s green fields and that suits these guys just fine, thank you very much. “Behind Every Face” has a darker, mysterious sound and it’s philosophical in some way, too. “Everything is Mine” has a jerky, infectious ‘60s beat and two different parts, or was it more, that give this number a dynamic twist. “You Take It All” is a swinging, toe-tapping, happy little ditty featuring a great slide guitar. “A Box of You” is fast and punked up and seems to be about a box of keepsakes from a lover or good friend and suggests that it might be all one needs to get through life’s bigger problems. The next song title, “Jackdaw Alien” just sounds so kickass to me for some reason. Might make for a good band name, movie or book and the song has that storytelling feel describing how an alien would feel in a strange world. “The Burning Tree” features some badass harmonica and the lyric matching the title to the album; another storytelling song in the tradition of early Dylan with flavorings of blues and folk-rock. “Turning in My Hands” is the only song on the record that features just guitars and vocals. It’s introspective and looks at the bigger picture – “Life is just a ball game turning in my hands, when I get to the other side I hope I understand” – it reminded me of Neil Young. “Mask” has that familiar blues shuffling beat that Bo Diddley made famous and great harmonica. It’s a good beat to jam on and perhaps that’s why the band played it for over 10 minutes, but at first, it seemed odd to me amongst the tidier three to four minutes songs. “Strangers Outside My Door” musically reminded me of the classic Rolling Stones sound paired up with the American roots music of the ‘80s. “Clouds of Day One” has the Velvet’s sound with that deadened snare drum that Mo Tucker is known for but this number is more pop than avant-garde. I absolutely loved the “bop-bop-bop” vocal parts and it made this song an instant favorite. I also loved the last song “Sunrise” because of its guitar hook. It’s very catchy and fresh and the break midway with vocals singing “Sunrise…. sunrise” was fantastic. Overall, Shem Sharples has made a solid album with lots of good hooks and melodies and one that carries on that classic pop-rock sound of yesteryear. And with his straightforward, no nonsense lyrics I am sure what Shem Sharples brings to this type of music won’t go out of style anytime soon, just as long as bands like his continue to draw influence from the oldies but goodies.
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