at a glance...

Formed: Liverpool 1982 (as The Pale Fountains); Shack formed 1988

Personnel:
Michael Head -vocal, guitar
John Head -guitars, vocals
Ren Parry -bass
Iain Templeton -drums

Bands In The Family:
The Pale Fountains, Michael Head Introducing The Strands

Notes:
Liverpudlian Mick Head started to make music with The Pale Fountains, a Love-obsessed early-'80s band whose tenure with Virgin records fell apart after two albums when the A&R man who signed them jumped ship. Head and brother John regrouped as Shack in the late '80s, recording two albums for Ghetto, the second of which, '91's Waterpistol, was abandoned when the master tapes were first thought lost in a studio fire and later left in a rental car in America. In late 1995 a copy turned up, and German label Marina released Waterpistol to rave reviews in the British press, who hailed it as one of the best LPs of the decade. By this time the Heads were recording as The Strands, although they have since resumed work as Shack with beleaguered A&M offshoot London Records. HMS Fable is their most recent release.

Links:
Interview with Micheal Head

What is soul? Some people will tell you not to bother with soul. It's a nebulous concept at best, they'll say; at worst it's a phony construct of music journalists who are afraid to say "black."

This is nonsense. Soul is simple. Soul is having a feeling, writing a tune that captures the feeling, and delivering it in a way that lets the listener share the feeling. Soul separates the happy songs that make you want to punch the air from the ones that wear your patience thin. Soul makes every song a love song. Soul is the difference between every record you love dearly and all the perfectly functional crap you'll hear on the radio tomorrow. It's simple. Shack have soul. Their records matter, and it's about time they mattered to you.

HMS Fable tears away from the docks with "Natalie's Party," a song that sounds positively electrified after the acoustic diversions of last year's Magical World of the Strands side project, suggesting the Head boys are just as glad to be back as we are to have them here. It's joyous. The elegant jangle-pop of "Comedy" follows, and once again we're reminded what select songwriting company Mick Head keeps. For intuitive expression, formal composition, and yes, soul, there are very few who can touch him.

There are actually a few letdowns on HMS Fable - "I Want You" and "Captain's Table" revisit old Head tunes a little too explicitly, and "Lend's Some Dough" is something of a throwaway, if a genuinely amusing one. But if you can resist the anthemic "Pull Together" you're made of tougher stuff than I, and "Beautiful" is the best tune little brother John has put his name to yet. Nitpicking is silly, in any case - everything here is several notches above essential, and should embarrass the hordes of soulless trad-rock bands who have crowded Shack out of the limelight for so long. No matter. They'll come and go. This record is here for good.