Shields Up – Shields Up (Wasted State)
After a string of well attended and successfully ‘first gigs’ (including opening for a recent Bridge Nine tour featuring Polar Bear Club, Ruiner and Defeater in Glasgow) the debut album from Edinburgh’s Shields Up gives the listener the impression that this band are a veteran force in the Scottish hardcore scene leading the way for any young wiper snappers daring to step foot into the brutal yet welcoming world that is Punk. No matter how long (or short) Shields Up have existed, they stand strong as an example of what hardcore, in my humble opinion, should be about; tight musicianship, mega-chunky guitar riffage, hi-paced and energetic hooks and, maybe most importantly, good lyrics.
This type of hardcore (influenced heavily by American bands like New York’s Sick Of It All) already has a history of being a vehicle for communicating a message, usually one of community, to the assembled crowd, be they one or be they many. This message usually takes one of the two following forms: the, “Fuck you outside world! You’re all cunts! You’ll never understand the shit that we’ve been through” guise, or on the other hand, there’s the, “we are one, united we stand, proud to be, you can’t hold us back” style rant. Shields Up certainly tend towards the later of these two schools of rhetoric although their lyrics, if I may be so bold, seem unique in that they carry a sense of a more personal struggle, a fatigue perhaps installed by past band frustrations. There’s no doubting the levels of experience these boys have under their collective belt, a band CV would read like a list of important Scottish hardcore and punk rock bands from the last 10 years (Taking Chase, Secta Rouge, Attack The Hive, Ben Cozine, Misled Youth, Deadloss Superstar, Today We Fight, Radio Lucifer, and more…), the fact that most of these bands are no longer together hints at disharmony amongst ranks in times gone by.
But far from jading the lads in question it seems they have emerged from their own histories hungry, their ideas purified and their focus sharpened, the result being a complete coherency in their sound due to a meeting of minds and shared dedication. A near perfect mix of honed musical sensibility with a startlingly aggressive delivery, Shields Up not only have their sound ‘down’ but they seem comfortable enough to venture away from it without fear of reprimand, their music is peppered with unexpected moments of unique and often humours pauses, sudden stops and even musical ‘tips of the hat’ to other bands (including one riff that sounds suspiciously like Survivor’s 1982 smash hit Eye Of The Tiger). Even when they switch between styles on the album, it all sounds uniquely like Shields Up whilst still delivering a reliable ‘does what it says on the tin’ style of hardcore. There is no poetic wank here, no pretentious subject matters, no ill-founded rants or ill-informed opinion, it’s scary how starkly honest their music is. I dare say other bands, of any stylistic persuasion, could take notes and benefit from the lessons available here. Their music is powerful, their message is positive and their ambition is undeniable, lyrics like, “If we fail we can only try again until we win,” leave absolutely no doubt in the listeners mind that Shields Up are out to get something and so far as I can see, they’re getting it.
Muckle Sandwich #2 is out now.
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Wait A Minute
By James Taylor Quartet
Release date: 2004-09-22 |
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