Shack
To form the basis of one worthy group, but two..?
Yet the origins of Liverpool’s Shack – aka Mick and John Head – were primarily that. Existing first as The Pale Fountains during the 80s, the band, an inspired blend of pop and guitar-based indie, were signed to Virgin for a whopping £150,000, tipped as potential scene-stalwarts.
Sadly, though, as the case proved, the pressure of expectation was too much, the act giving way after two albums in 1986. To make matters worse, bassist of the group, and best friend of Mick, Chris McCaffrey died of a brain-tumour. Most would have hung up the guitar-strings, yet the duo continued – returning two years later under the new guise of Shack with a debut-LP in possession: ‘Zilch’, a record soon believed slain as the victim of tacky 80s studio-twattery.
Again, most would have given up. Not Shack. In 1991, they formed their most glorious work to date – ‘Waterpistol’, a drug-addled, wistful creation, ruined only slightly via the burning down of the studio within which it was created – an event that claimed the master-tapes (one of which remained, though, that soon vanished in the producer’s car in the States for a couple of months – and, by the time it was brought back, the label set for the release had already disintegrated).
Four years later. The album gets an eventual release through Marina, yet is only acknowledged by the completists in the know; a true ‘lost album’.
They didn’t stop. Come ’97, the Heads are the backing-band for their personal hero Arthur Lee’s Love; amidst the period, they created a brand new project – The Strands, who produced the dreamy, wondrous ‘The Magical World Of The Strands’, good enough for a new deal – to Laurel, via London Records. The next record took an age to muster. But two years pass, and ‘HMS Fable’ was with us – a classic of ’99, and critical masterpiece, all spiralling acoustics, and gently anthemic compositions that could have been produced amidst any age.
Then another break. And another label switch-over – to North Country. 2003 – and the band’s latest opus, ‘Here’s Tom With The Weather’, continues the legacy, ending years of hardship by seeing a series of sell-out crowds and a burgeoning Liverpool scene of newbies reinvigorating the Scouse forefathers with a new lease and hunger for life in(spiring) music. Finally – just desserts for one of the UK’s most cruelly abused, but dearly loved, bands.
SHACKNET.CO.UK: A discography, mp3-downloads, tabs, forum, gallery and a smattering more from the quintessential, independent fan-site.