Shack - 'Here's Tom With The Weather' (North Country)
4/5
By: Toby L
Now the British nation is up in arms about the fact that, yes, it's summer and we're experiencing a heat-wave, typically and identifiably to our heritage, we're moaning (even after wishing for such a temperature-increase for months).
Yet, with the likes of Shack's meteorological-touting return to the fore with their first LP for four years - relevantly, 'Here's Tom With The Weather' - seemingly, woes of a sunburnt neck and a dehydrated gut are soon to vanquish, especially with a timeless collection of folky-indie-pop trinkets such as these to nurse the complaints.
As beautiful as their previous, defining 'HMS Fable', 'Here's Tom...' is as innocently gorgeous as they come - melodic, wide-eyed, observational, romantic, timeless and wholeheartedly sincere. And - shockingly - British: a notion not so much celebrated as discarded over the past 18 months, save for a flag-waving Libertines or ever-tragic Billy Bragg.
Not that Shack's Mick and John Head are culturally segregating in this respect; their sound eclipses its own birthplace (Liverpool), beaming wildly and enthusing over the likes of Chinatown or Camden Road further down south in the UK's capital, or even the further-afield pastures of New York. Hazy, dreamy and aloft in its own wistful, deserving grandeur, the Heads have concocted their most low-key, best effort yet.
But you won't realise it upon immediate exposure. This is growing stuff, kids - the likes of a string-doused 'The Girl With The Long Brown Hair' far too subtle at first, until repetitious airings, at which point it comes across the band's strongest composition amidst the whole set. Closer to their prior work is a spry 'On The Terrace', quietly bouncing and gently anthemic, whilst a classic, 60s-esque 'Byrds Turns To Stone' or 'season'-suggestive 'Soldier Man' are even further laidback, slumbering in the turn of summer into autumn.
The second half of the record is as similarly enriching, a firmly strummed 'Miles Apart' - complete with tasteful, minimalist orchestration - Gorky's ZM-recounting 'Meant To Be', joyous John-sung 'Carousel', and Coral-y 'On The Streets Tonight' each as impacting as the next. A final 'Happy Everafter' itself summarises the batch, what with its warming title and hopelessly adorable, movie-soundtrack-alike, feel-good optimism - altogether as angelic as they come.
A low-key return perhaps, but the re-emergence of two of Britain's most secretly finest songwriters is a cause for heated celebration, particularly when the work proves as rewarding as this. Emerging, tragically, just every once in a while, now Shack are back and this is here - really - it's going to be tougher than ever to let them go once more.
Artists in this article: Shack
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