Thee More Shallows – “Book of Bad Breaks ” – [Anticon.]

“More Deep Cuts” was a tranquil triumph, this is a more a
rambunctious revelry. Saturated sweetness with synthesizer,
plenty of casiotone for the generally together SF trio. This
album makes me think of steroids, underneath it all I think
the mighty Shallows have a very keen pop sense, but these
tracks get traipsed through some fuzz and muck and even
drum machines, plus those synths oozing all over the place.
It’s a very doctored release, which I can get behind, but it
seems to me that the patient here is so healthy, that
inflating the sound with steroids and inserting rickety
ticking pacemakers is a bit counter-productive? That was my
initial reaction, but with each subsequent listen, I’ve
become more and more addicted to the foreign substances.
Plus I’m a fan of “interlude” tracks…and Thee More Shallows
delivers some intriguing ones that nicely set up the full-on
tracks. Lyrics take left turns even when there’s no left
left. “Mother you were first upon the beach, you stormed the
wake boards and the free bar at Normandy.” Toss in Heston-era
Planet of the Ape references and they are putting the fun in
confusion. Confunsion? Tons of it here, the Shallows run deep;
pros on Anticon, Oxytoxin and digital linseed oil.

-Thurston Hunger

Haiku Review
Hallowed be shallows
Steroid synths bulging the veins
Of sweet pop muscles