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Spiders - Shake Electric review



Reviewer:
8.3

9 users:
7.78
Band: Spiders
Album: Shake Electric
Release date: October 2014


01. Mad Dog
02. Shake Electric
03. Bleeding Heart
04. Only Your Skin
05. Lonely Nights
06. Back On The Streets
07. Control
08. Give Up The Fight
09. Hard Times
10. War Of The World

The 70s are strong with this one.

Both in look and sound, Spiders' sophomore album Shake Electric brings back the feeling of those beloved years, that many young music fans didn't have the luck to witness.

Though openly borrowing from that period, though, Spiders are not Airbourne, meaning that they aren't just blatantly ripping off someone, like AC/DC in the Airbourne example. Instead, merging bits from David Bowie, T. Rex and other beasts from the heaviest 70s rock, this Swedish quartet is remoulding the genre's classic and sometimes thought outdated plinths in something new and furiously wild.

Shake Electric, driven by some clever guitarwork and a warm, intimate production, walks expertly the fine line between rock and metal without letting one overshadow the other. Despite having already proved her capacities in 2012's Flash Paint, singer Ann-Sofie Hoyles this time takes securely the reins, blooming completely and enriching the album with her irreverent and almost violent voice. And with a bass benefiting from the genre, which in its time valorised it a lot more, and drums that hold their ground without overacting but bringing their pivotal contribution in the sound construction, Shake Electric is a cohesive, original release, masterly in its fresh approach to forty-years-old tonalities.

The band also managed to avoid the main downside of the album, its being not this much variable in terms of song structure and overall sound, combining eleven short tracks in a just 35-minutes album, making sure that listening to Shake Electric from start to finish didn't become a tiring experience.

But in the end, aside from the roaring and fierce hard rock, what remains of Shake Electric? The well-thought and passionate work of talented people, and a charming feeling of remote and obscure romance. But more than everything, Spiders' second release is a mouthful of positive energy, and a guaranteed good time.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 9





Written on 04.01.2015 by Hopefully you won't agree with me, diversity of opinions is what makes metal so beautiful and varied.

So... critics and advices absolutely welcome.


Comments

Comments: 9   Visited by: 171 users
04.01.2015 - 22:29
Ilham
Giant robot
Sounds like something I might enjoy. Many gracias.
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04.01.2015 - 22:38
Rating: 8
R Lewis

Written by Ilham on 04.01.2015 at 22:29

Sounds like something I might enjoy. Many gracias.

De nothing
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We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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05.01.2015 - 02:40
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Actially I seems to like this band because we need to talk about singer there
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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05.01.2015 - 08:38
PocketMetal

Sounds good, a little too cliche sometimes but overall very enjoyable. The BOOM BOOM BOOM song was lovely.
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05.01.2015 - 11:52
Ivor
Staff
F' it. I was expecting quite a lot more after reading your review. By third song it was meh, 4th song already was a tedious listen. This is purely radio material - you can't listen to this album more than one song at a time. For just one song, it sounds great, string more together and it gets monotonous and boring as hell. I'll put some Jess and the Ancient Ones on instead. I mean, retro is OK, you just don't have to be boring about it. Siena Root did a better job, though not strictly in the similar hard rock style.

I.
----
No friends for playing games
No foes who scorn my name
Computerized machines of steel and rust
/---/
No friends in my house on Mars
No foes in my house on Mars
I was born in my house on Mars
I will die in my house on Mars
-- Ayreon - My House on Mars
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06.01.2015 - 05:10
8bitsAgo

I made the mistake of searching youtube to check these guys out. Their music is well conceived however I advise not watching the group's music videos, ever. I strongly dislike when bands, wether wilfully, or by the advice of their producers, adopt a look/style/attitude that is a blatant copy of a current revival-retro-pop cliche in order to gain popularity.

As if we'd actually believe that these guys are as edgy as they are made to appear in their video. And if they do act like they do in the video, the fact that they appeared in a terribly brown-nosing video such as the one I just watched, would make them in reality just a bunch of wankers.

Did the rolling stones ever fail to live up to their reputation? Did Zeppelin appear in videos smoking joints and dropping LSD in their eyes? NO!!! Cause they were naturally cool and didn't need to rely on such lame attempts.
I'm all for keeping the spirit of rock alive, and for the ongoing creation of music that sounds like it was produced in a certain by-gone era. But don't insult the consumers. We know it's 2015 now and that groups who act as if they are a rock star from the 60's in a music video are just plain wankers.

If they never made such a c@cks#cking video as this, and just proved by reputation that they are in fact, brilliant musicians whose music is evidently influenced by their hard drug taking, smoke filled hotel room dwelling lifestyles, like real rock stars, then I'd think thats pretty cool, but now there's no hope.

Take drugs all you want, rock out, be liberated, but don't be a dildo in a pretentious music video and act like this is the 60's. I'll try and forget I ever saw their lame video so I can truly enjoy the music they produce. I'm angry and I don't know why
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06.01.2015 - 05:20
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
^ Wow aren't we angry today?
The fact that a metal video is bad doesn't surprise me. In fact ti would if it happened the opposite. Don't remember seeing a good one. That's why I don't watch any. I just let YT opened playing the music and return to do whatever I was on the other tab
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"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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06.01.2015 - 05:51
8bitsAgo

Written by Karlabos on 06.01.2015 at 05:20

^ Wow aren't we angry today?
The fact that a metal video is bad doesn't surprise me. In fact ti would if it happened the opposite. Don't remember seeing a good one. That's why I don't watch any. I just let YT opened playing the music and return to do whatever I was on the other tab



I'm over it now . Like you I pretty much never watch videos for the same reason, they are never good and succeed only in diminishing my enjoyment of the music/group. I very rarely comment on things I don't like either. I suppose I had some steam to blow off. Should have been playing my guitar rather than watching a video on youtube!
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09.01.2015 - 05:24
Susan
Smeghead
Written by 8bitsAgo on 06.01.2015 at 05:10

I made the mistake of searching youtube to check these guys out. Their music is well conceived however I advise not watching the group's music videos, ever. I strongly dislike when bands, wether wilfully, or by the advice of their producers, adopt a look/style/attitude that is a blatant copy of a current revival-retro-pop cliche in order to gain popularity.

As if we'd actually believe that these guys are as edgy as they are made to appear in their video. And if they do act like they do in the video, the fact that they appeared in a terribly brown-nosing video such as the one I just watched, would make them in reality just a bunch of wankers.

Did the rolling stones ever fail to live up to their reputation? Did Zeppelin appear in videos smoking joints and dropping LSD in their eyes? NO!!! Cause they were naturally cool and didn't need to rely on such lame attempts.
I'm all for keeping the spirit of rock alive, and for the ongoing creation of music that sounds like it was produced in a certain by-gone era. But don't insult the consumers. We know it's 2015 now and that groups who act as if they are a rock star from the 60's in a music video are just plain wankers.

If they never made such a c@cks#cking video as this, and just proved by reputation that they are in fact, brilliant musicians whose music is evidently influenced by their hard drug taking, smoke filled hotel room dwelling lifestyles, like real rock stars, then I'd think thats pretty cool, but now there's no hope.

Take drugs all you want, rock out, be liberated, but don't be a dildo in a pretentious music video and act like this is the 60's. I'll try and forget I ever saw their lame video so I can truly enjoy the music they produce. I'm angry and I don't know why


Seriously though!!! I totally agree. With everything here. Don't be a dildo, indeed! Using videos as an excuse to get dolled up and act out whatever "cool" means to you doesn't really fool anyone. Might be fun for the afternoon but 0% of the people are going to watch your video and say, "wow, they are SOOO COOL!" And yeah... Zeppelin, etc., didn't need a video to prove anything to anyone. Hmpf.

I did dig the music quite a bit, though. Haven't seen these videos; am agreeing with the general statement. My new favorite saying is also "don't be a dildo."
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"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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