Stories From Shamehill - Royale With Cheese CD (Self-Released)

Stories from Shamehill is a trio from the Netherlands. They toured the west coast of the USA two years ago, although they were an unknown band at the time. Good reviews followed them and they made a lot of friends. Since then, they’ve released a 7” single and this very nice eight song EP should go a long way towards getting them better known. Really cool packaging for this disc, playing off the McDonalds colors to tie in to the Pulp Fiction reference of the title. This is a really great sounding album with few instrumental overdubs that highlights the trio format. Joris de Haan has a seriously fat tone, exquisite really, that wraps up your ears in blankets of warmth. He can can get pretty crunchy, which suits the riff heavy songs. The melodies are sparse, tightly interwoven within the chord structures, and those chord progressions are nicely stacked and fresh sounding. Bassist Marit Stam keeps her lines walking, making a solid section with drummer Arend Keenan. Some highlights for me– The opener, “Showtime at the Apollo” has a flow to it, with many rewarding production touches and stops so you can hear just how heavy the reverb is. This is a really dynamic production. “The Whole Shebang” has a few surprises as well; though crunchy and minimal, it comes across as modern. The chorus of “Na Zdrowie” is like a Greek wedding song, a really party. “Sting Like a Bee” works off a simple riff that the guitars double up on, and cut time choruses give it the heavy propulsion. Royale with Cheese is a great, modern surf record, with really well written songs, a terrific production and just long enough to make you want more. (review by Ferenc Dobronyi, which appeared in Continental Magazine #26)

Comes with a couple of stickers and a band business card.

Tracks: Showtime At The Apollo - The Whole Shebang - Witch-Hunt - One Trick Pony - Mr. Who?! - Na Zdrowie - Sting Like A Bee - The Shred Shed