REGARDING THE MUSIC OF OTHERS “Shank Williams” (Patient Sounds)


“Shank Williams” vs. “Shank Trilliams,” j-card vs. tape, we know who wins: Trilliams. It’s just cooler.

Brandon Eckes straps on his six-shooters, dons his ten-gallon hat, and shines up his spurs for a jaunty plunderphonic adventure, and I have no idea where the western references come from. Maybe because “Shank Trilliams” sounds like an outlaw from an old film, maybe because the samples sound like outlaws from an old film, I don’t know! What I do know is that Eckes is able to have a lot of fun with whatever sources he’s tapping, and they all sound like they’re incidental music from old films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, if ever such a thing existed.

Eckes knows it did, and so he’s brought the vibe to the masses. Scratchy like old 45s, the source material flits by in both nostalgic and newfangled aesthetics, scratching both the oddly familiar and the sneakily experimental itch. Eckes regards the music of others (ahem) as his own personal playground, and we should thank him for it. “Shank Trilliams” is an invigorating blast of weird sonics, lovingly curated and expressed with an ear for sheer wit. Excellent work.



--Ryan