All The Shapes E.P
Catalogue no. JMMCD014
Release date: 01/05/2011
Format: CD / Digital
Track Listing:
01. Three Hours A Week
02. Pick Up The Pieces
03. The Storm
04. The Drinking Song
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Reviews
Mint South
Despite their name, there is no great desire to show off All the Shapes here. But what you do get is some pretty solid folk rock if there’s one word for this, it’s pastoral. Only four tracks long, but there is a definite sense of the outdoors here even the sleeve art shows a man fishing, and looking rather sombre for it. But in truth you may not really know how to feel about all this are the lyrics meant to be angry, or resigned, or just wistful? However you look at it they are hidden under swathes of melody and harmony, opener ‘Three Hours A Week’ sounding, musically at least, to my ears, like an acoustic, almost round the campfire ish cousin of ‘Hotel Yorba’ by the White Stripes. No bad thing in a so called nufolk scene dominated by the likes of Mumford & Sons and Noah & The Whale before they went a bit Eighties pop on their Last Night On Earth album. Still not sure how I feel about that one, but, I digress…………..
‘Pick Up The Pieces’ follows, and the ambiguity continues. Is it to be read as a sort yourself out and move on message, or we know it s been a bad time lately, and we’ll help you out ? Crosby, Stills & Nash have clearly been on the play list, all five voices accommodated as part of a wall of guitar, what sounds like banjo or mandolin, and drums, other reference points possibly including REM (when Peter Buck remembers to bring the mandolin) think the Fables Of The Reconstruction or Green albums in particular, and Tired Pony, the allstar REM/Snow Patrol countrytinged super group.
And, given that All The Shapes decided to come together and experiment with a new sound after kicking their heels in various local punk/metal outfits, it is testament to them that you would not guess this unless, like me, you had done some background research. Back to recorded business, then, and ‘The Storm’ hints at impending breakdown in the little house on the prairie, a relationship in its death throes by the sound of things, in the tradition laid down by the likes of Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline in the relatively early days of the country tradition, here rendered for the nufolkies in a fashion they’ll understand.
How, then, are we to finish things? The answer, in music as sometimes in life, is with a drink or two. ‘The Drinking Song’ is an address to a pub rabble, friends, family, good health and plentiful toasts, you’d presume think along the lines of ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ by the Dubliners/Thin Lizzy or ‘I Am A Cider Drinker’ by The Wurzels. One final question lingers: will they stick by this template or experiment further, now that Portsmouth’s own Jelly Maid Music label has given them a chance. The possibilities, as they say, are potentially endless, given their clear penchant for musical assimilation will they go back to their punk/metal roots? Will they embrace full-on Country & Western? Could they, dare I say it, do a Noah and go 80s? Probably best not to read too much into that, on second thought.
Unplug The Jukebox
The debut EP by Portsmouth’s All The Shapes boasts a wonderfully rustic feel and Earthiness to it. It is actually refreshing to hear a band just focussing on the songs without dressing it all up needlessly. This is songwriting and performing in a very traditional yet simplistic sense.
The four tracks here all have a timeless quality to them and performed in an assured and confident way. ”Three Hours A Week” is how you’d imagine a Stella fuelled jam between Fleet Foxes and The Levellers sounding. It’s gloriously upbeat. No, it’s better than that. This is a huge pop song which kicks things off with real intent.
“Pick Up The Pieces” boasts the same tight and energetic performance whilst strangely recalling an early 90′s grunge feel to the vocals. The melodies are still top drawer and again it shows the band to have a real knack of writing upbeat tunes without descending into being cheesy or over-cheery.
All The Shapes have successfully hit the middle ground in more ways than one. This is still folk music in a rustic and traditional sense but it never allows itself to fall into chunky jumpered sentimentality. “The Storm” recalls Nick Drake and The Decemberists with a wonderful story behind the lyrics and “The Drinking Song” sounds like a heavy night on the cider with The Pogues. It’s a grand pub singalong that gets the pulse racing and is completely unpretentious. It’s just damn good fun!
All The Shapes are well worth keeping an eye on. This is a consistent EP that showcases a tight unit with a respect for tradition but an eagerness to push folk forward too.