Electric Shepherd's debut album \"Electric Shepherd\" released September 15, 2010.
This band has accomplished something unparalleled, indeed something magic with this album. There’s a blend of good ol’ rock n roll leaning ever so slightly folksy with swampy blues, and the whole thing is coated in a thick cloud of LSD and it’s been hanging out at generator parties smoking spliffs while taking part in desert rock jam sessions. It’s the kind of album where the best song on the album is whichever one is currently playing. It manages to hit the Goldilox-spot on the Moh’s scale, giving you exactly the tenderness you want and the hardness you need.
It’s like the best orgy you’ve ever been in: there are so many moving parts, all entwined and aware of and mixing with and sharing each other, none in too great or too little proportion. The individual contributions are extraordinary, but it’s the commingling that truly causes heaven to blossom. It's the kind of balance you don't even notice because it's so natural. The guitar tingles, the bass not just essential but visible, the vocals pull at you, some organs even come out to play a little bit, and the drumming...dear sweet pussy nectar the drumming... The only thing as good as the performance on this album is the engineering; these instruments could not possibly be mixed better or recorded cleaner. Did I mention they toss a Theremin in there too?
There're points where this album moves slow, traces its fingertips over your veins and contemplates your curves; then there are points where it caresses your chest before pinning you down, and suddenly grabs all your hair and yanks - but it knows how to bundle that shit right, and has the class get every strand over your ear first.
I could go on in attempts to describe how delicately this album walks a fine line, but suffice to say, and those who understand will truly understand that no more complete review could possibly exist: this album fucks me EXACTLY the way I want to be fucked.
Down the River sets the stage for what’s to come. Like any good lover, Electric Shepherd starts out slow and warms you up gently – this song’s a rock fruit grown of bluesy soil that reveals the band’s virtuosity as well as their penchant for intertwining gentle touches with raucous outbursts. Like any good foreplay it hints at what’s to come while nonetheless being its own reward.
Mildred Harris is the bluesiest of the tracks. It isn’t afraid to get a little wild here and there, while always knowing when to return home.
ChemTrails provides a heavenly respite, a dance under low-wattage lights strung from tree to tree followed by a makeout session in the bed of your pickup truck surrounded by fireflies. It’s all peace and love and smoooooth groove. It’s when your lover smiles sincerely into your eyes and – for just a moment – everything is right with the world.
Soon thereafter we head across the bridge of Pulse, darkening the tone, readying us for Lukewarm. We’re greeted with a low beat that gallops like a V-twin: this track means business. Slowly the song builds like a cresting wave, only to break against an immovable seawall. But another wave builds, then another and another, until finally the edifice is toppled and chaos gushes everywhere, the final third of the track staggering around with the lopsided grace of a drunken pirate.
The penultimate track, and winner of the award for sexiest title ever, Mapping Your Innermost Trails, is the crown jewel – the orgasm – of the album. It’s here that the band tingles every fibre and really shows us what they’ve got: a dance of delicacy with ferocity taking place in a palatial sanctuary of unfolding confidence.
A lesser band might end with the majesty of Innermost Trails, while Electric Shepherd barrel right into the propulsive grand finale The Misled Herd. It maintains for its duration the relentless driving pace of a steam train, starting off with a fierce tango, ramping up and down through various excitements, until at last the boiler is ready to explode and the train ready to fly off the tracks in a momentous conversion of every last ounce of mass the band has into pure exploded energy. I think my speakers might actually drip with the drummer’s sweat when I play this cut loud enough.
I saw all the tracks on YouTube individually but not as a complete album (which I know many desert rockers like, a-la Stoned Meadow of Doom, HeavyStonerDoomBlues, Tangy Zizzler, Stoned Ravenous Fuzz, etc…) so I saw fit to upload it as such. If there are any complaints on the part of the band or representatives thereof, just let me know and I’ll remove it. I’m simply trying to spread the word on you guys and your EXCELLENT music!
