Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers: Pandelirium

When I make my comic horror film about cannibalistic carnies terrorizing a small Midwestern town, this is the album I want for a soundtrack. The Shack Shakers move from their standard rockabilly/country-punk into a genre that sounds kind of like Gogol Bordello on a Tilt-A-Whirl. That may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but the Shakers are always reinventing their sound and in this case they manage to pull it off admirably.



Col. J.D. Wilkes is in top form, ranging from Tom Waits-inspired bullhorn vocals and carnival waltzes to feverish gipsy harmonica lines. Wilkes has always freaked me out just a little bit, he's like some sort of rabid animal in that he's scary because you never quite know what he's going to do, and yet it's so fascinating that you can't look away. The last time I saw the Shakers he was spitting on the crowd and pulling out his chest hair, and of course audience surfing to the middle of the venue and kicking down a lighting fixture. And that's not even considering the utter insanity that is the music.

On this record, the Shakers run pell-mell through a wide variety of styles, mostly focused on Eastern European gipsy music, but they do it as sort of a hybrid with out of control carnival tunes that draws you in and beats you down with a reckless disregard for listening comfort. Even on the one song that seems more in the country vein, "The Ballad of Speedy Atkins," they put together a rockin' track that serves as a palette cleanser for the final tracks on the album. The last of which, "Nellie Bell," is this fantastic carnival waltz with a solid tuba performance. Now, I'm a sucker for any band with a tuba player, and the low brass work on this album is killer. "Iron Long Oompah" is absolutely the best polka I've heard in years, and that's saying something.

This record may not do it for everyone. What record does? It is a rockin' good time, though, and well worth a listen. And while you're listening, imagine carnies run amok, gorging themselves on the flesh of helpless Middle Americans. Ah, the world is a beautiful place.

posted by guillermo @ 10:26 PM