http://www.iheartmusic.net/serendipity/index.php?/archives/1500-Get-into-Ship-Shapes.html

I've been wanting to write about Ship Shapes for a few months now. I've loved their debut, Shuffle On, Soldier,
ever since it first came out back in September, and as a nice bonus
they're one of the better bands to come out of Ottawa in some time
(even if the band's members all originally hail from Halifax, and were
members of country-poppers The Grass). Unfortunately, it took four or
five tries before I found a disc drive that a) didn't break down from
the stress of trying to play the album (which would be the advantage of
people buying the digital version),
and b) was able to stay functional long enough for me to actually rip
the album and listen to it several times. Now that I've managed to rip
it, however, I'm glad to hear that the album sounds just as good all
the way through, over repeated listens, as it did on one-off listens
here and there.



Surprisingly, though, the more I've had the chance to listen, the less
I've been able to get a handle on how Ship Shapes sound. The band
doesn't seem to want to stay still with one particular style; one
moment they're a garage rock act, the next they follow in The Grass'
footsteps with country-tinged pop, another they sound like they're
leading a revival (see the superb "a Rejoicing Song"), and sometimes they just sound like they threw whatever they could think of into one song (as they do on "Ship Shapes",
which sounds like an '80s band playing dirty blues rock...or,
alternatively, like a dirty blues rock band playing an '80s song).



Luckily, whatever style they decide to play, they tend to be pretty good. Shuffle On, Soldier
is one of those rare albums for which "it's all over the place" is
actually a word of praise, rather than a negative. I don't know whether
Ship Shapes have evolved or settled in their sound since the album was
released back in the fall, but if they can be this good without
settling, I'm really hoping they haven't.



Luckily, I'll soon get to find out, as Ship Shapes will be playing Café Dekcuf on Friday, May 15th as part of this bill: