In the tradition of freak folk bands releasing limited run live documents to supplement their 'offical releases', Shadow Band has released 'Live Vol I' and it's a strange one. On Side A of this live compilation of Shadow Band material, the band plays folk-psych steadily yet sounding kind of dreary, with Mike Bruno's voice cutting through the music like Sky Sunlight Saxon's work with the World Peace Band. Mike's intonation is not unlike Donovan in his most well known work. The bassist has that Les Rallizes Denudes groove, while the guitars wind around the groove like MV&EE's excursions to the outer limits. On most of Side B we get a different Shadow Band. Here, the band stomps and crashes like the most wiped-out live recordings from FuShitSusha. Then they transition into what sounds like 'Shut Down' by the Germs, but isn't listed as such in the liner notes.
These wild sounds have left me eagerly awaiting 'Live Vol. 2' from Shadow Band. A very appealing mix on this jammer of a tape.
https://shadowband.bandcamp.com/
--T Penn
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