Sunday, January 4, 2015

Review: 'Let Them Show You: The Anthology 1964-1967' by The Shanes


Sweden’s The Shanes were absorbing British influence even before The Beatles took their homegrown pop international in 1964. The previous year The Shanes got started as a Shadows-type instrumental band, but started yelping into mics and surfing the Mersey Beat in ’64. Their output that year had an R&B beat but a light approach that was more Beatles (for whom they opened in Stockholm) than Stones. In 1965, they toughened up a lot for some really wild records, such as “I Don’t Want Your Love”, a crazed lift of The Kinks’ early power chorders,  “Crazy County Hop”, which has some of the most eardrum-piercing harmonica squealing on record, and a live version of “Roadrunner” with fiery guitar that would do Townshend or Beck proud. This was The Shanes’ most powerful period as evidenced on Let Them Show You: The Anthology 1964-1967, the band’s first compilation released outside of Sweden. The punchy, maraca-rattling R&B in the center of this disc—much of it pulled from the sophomore LP, The Shanegang— is its bread and butter. The Shane’s odd return to lighter, 1964-style pop in the psychedelic years is a bit confusing and considerably less satisfying (they even rip off Herman’s Hermits with “Chris Craft No. 9”), but there’s still stuff to dig in this period, particularly the moody chamber pop “Like Before”.


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