The Shaky Hands
Lunglight (Kill Rock Stars)
By Christopher Morgan
Published: October 5th, 2008 | 9:00am
Perhaps there is a band out there so entranced by Editors' heatless arena ways, and yet they can't help but be drawn to a life of post-hip obscurity. This seems unlikely, so it's best to stick to the basics. There is a theme of rusticity when it comes to the Kill Rock Stars roster. The incidental lo-fi of DIY constraints is a strict aesthetic in and around the northernmost region of the northwestern United States. In the meantime, enthusiasts can rest easy that KRS has not slipped into inconsistency just yet. The Shaky Hands is just the kind of band — with its skin-and-bones instrumentation, rock-in-lung vocals, and populist lyrical pontification — that KRS has come to make comfortable to exist.
The Shaky Hands is a rather apt name once one gets through the album. They are, in fact, quite shaky in their ways. Not necessarily awful, but agitated as opposed to angry. They are a hybrid of aggressive folk reminiscent of the old age of the draft, and a nervous punk so emotional that, despite their best efforts, melody tends to fail them. Instrumentation can range from the amelodic, bareboned clang of indie-punk ("A New Parade") to something more riff-driven and distorted ("We Are Young"). There are also hints of psychedelia with tracks such as "World's Gone Mad," which contains fluid guitar sounds with more pronounced rhythms. It's considered to be an example of their darker side, and I'm inclined to agree up to a point: The depths at which the band can reach go no further than ennui of sorts. Nick Delff's vocals are talky and frantic, one that feels cornered and unable to overcome anxieties. He recites lyrics that refrain from psychobabble by keeping things as bare as their tunes. There's no seeming social value here, it's actually a lot like Bob Dylan — whose elaborately insane poetics have been confused with political screeds when most of them couldn't be more apolitical. On the outset, these are but an extension of DC's call and response wordiness, but lack the intellectual wanting.
It's hard for me to tell exactly whose world they're trying to convey as mad or otherwise. If the production is any indication I feel it is there own and no one else's. It encloses them from any outside influence. The obvious problem is that such an approach, no matter how alive the sound, can come off as vague and aloof. But then again, the Shaky Hands would lose themselves in trying to reach beyond that. Their personal aspects, the exploration of their minds and ideas are what make them more enjoyable. Subjectivity is sometimes a wonderful thing no matter how limited or unlimited the band.
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The Shaky Hands’ official site
The Shaky Hands’ MySpace page
Issue #30
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