DESCRIPTION:
The Shifters are an Australian post-punk band that I really should’ve covered ages ago; and no, not necessarily due to The Shifters being an amazing band with a uniquely compelling sound—which they are—but more so because of the self-perpetuating incompetency that’s led this video to be delayed time and time again, for an embarrassing continuance of four weeks. Four weeks. I’ve never been that far behind on requests before, not once. And you know what? It’s disheartening, really fucking disheartening. But forget it, I’ll save the anxious ramblings and half-baked explanations for a totally separate video that’ll be uploaded by the end of the month, either on the 29th or 30th, depending on whether or not I manage to finish editing it before the preceding date. Stay tuned or don’t.

Back to what I was originally saying: The Shifters are a post-punk band hailing from Australia, Melbourne specifically. This “Creggan Shops” 7” serves to be the group’s third release, with its two precedents being a debut split cassette with another Australian band, Terry (https://theshiftersofmelbourne.bandcamp.com/track/the-shifters-half-terry-split-cassette), as well as a self-titled cassette released by Australia’s Comfort Cassettes in late 2015. The aforementioned self-titled cassette originally contained the two recordings that are featured in this single, “Creggan Shops” and “Captain Hindsight”, along with seven other assorted melodies that, unfortunately, did not find their way onto this 7” (https://theshiftersofmelbourne.bandcamp.com/album/the-shifters). This single was reissued under Oakland’s It Take Two Records (a label that’s responsible for The World’s “Managerial Material” 7” EP [https://soundcloud.com/the-world-819194084/managerial-material], Violent Change’s “3” 12” [https://soundcloud.com/melters-sf/violent-change-unit-a], and Honey Radar’s “Sunrise Alphabet” flexi [https://soundcloud.com/ittakestworecords/honey-radar-sunrise-alphabet-flexi]) sometime last month, and is now available for purchase on their respective Storenvy page (though it appears that orders won’t be shipped out until members of The World, who operate the label, return from their east coast tour on 10/18: http://ittakestworecords.storenvy.com/products/17483387-the-shifters-creggan-shops-7).

In regards the group themselves, they employ a rather atypical line-up in these recordings. While The Shifters are currently a five piece (Miles Jansen on guitar/vocals, Tristan Davies on guitar/vocals, Lloyd Davies on bass, Ryan Coffey on drums, and Louise Russell on keys), as they were at the time of recording, they’ve since gone under notable revisions in membership: aside from some slight changes in roles (Tristan going from bass to guitar/vocals, replacing their previous lead guitarist, Violetta DelConte, who also plays in Melbourne’s Primo), the group has done without their violin and melodica player, Angus McLean. In his place is Louise Russell with a set of keys, which at the time of writing, has yet to be explored in any publicly-released material, making it somewhat of a mystery as to how the group’s alternative, jazz-influenced, poppy sounds have translated into their altered instrumentation—though if I were to guess, I’d say that it likely translated very well, as The Shifters have already proven themselves to be articulated artisans of harmonious, funk-driven tapestries with tasteful amounts of eclectic, anomalous tones woven sparsely throughout.

In contempt of the leisurely pace that these two particular tracks take, listening to The Shifters remains to be an engrossing experience that never fails to ensnare my attention with its vast, atonal musical arrangements, keeping my ears occupied with the seemingly-boundless aural depth presented here. The multitude of intonation present at the start of “Creggan Shops” left me completely in awe during my first exposure to the group, which is a sensation that hasn’t completely rubbed off over these past few weeks. Personally, I credit that allurement to the shrill, vivid accents brought forth by the melodica and violin alike, which unfortunately, are two sets of sounds that we won’t be hearing from with the group’s future releases, seeing that they’ve done without those two instruments in place of some keys. Regardless, I trust that the group will be able to supplement those colorful, expressive inflections with their new line up, because I feel that element of eccentricity is a cornerstone in the group’s concentrated, tightly wound delivery. Pair the fuzzy, cacophonous melodies with the dry, lackadaisical vocal harmonies, and you’ve got a delightfully-dismal assortment of tense, temperamental, yet equally-whimsical hymns. Highly recommend this one, as well as the self-titled tape that these two songs originated from.

TRACK LIST:
Creggan Shops - 0:00
Captain Hindsight - 5:01

DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/chwhpfkn82fwbts/Creggan_Shops.zip