The CD starts out with the title track. Right from the beginning they throw a quick hook at you, just to prepare you for the many more coming. The vocals have a touch of a foreign accent to them, but it adds flavor to the music. The drums sound like a group of men marching down a field together at times, and other times its raining cymbals throughout the music. Crash and bang, the click of the cymbals rings out through the music. The bass is present, and does a great job of keeping everything in line, playing in its own world and not over powering anything else. The guitar is the leader of the pack, jumping through soft hooks and fast melodies turn hooks. "My Danger" is a great rock n' roll track sure to please. It lets you rock and have a good time, but also calms down to just vocals and the guitar climbing through the song, giving it a great emotional feel. A pleasant trip away from the noise, right before it turns right back in and lets you have more good times. "Gun Shy" starts off soft, with the vocals the dominant thing in the picture. Then the pace picks up, as they start to rock and throw some powerful hooks your way. Add some more hooks, some vocal harmonies, and your addicted. The song rings throughout your head, as you sing along and have a grand 'ol time. The guitar is chunky, but not rough, adding a lot of emotions to the words. The bass adds a lot of depth to the song, and also helps to structure all the emotions in the song. And of course, the drums beat ferociously, keeping everything rocking and interesting. "Take Me" is another powerful rock tune. The guitar is fuzzy and loud, while the bass packs the punch needed to kick the song into full gear. The drums are tight and hard pounding, and everything works great together. "1976" starts out with rock 'n roll reminiscent of the time period of the title. But then the vocals enter, while the guitar takes the wheel. The pace quickly turns to 90's beats, and then the music will quickly take you by the hand and show you a good time. The hooks are still plentiful, keeping you interested. Never boring, they always find a way to add more power if you seem to be slipping into a deep sleep (which isn't possible with loud rock like this). "The Ballad of Marcelo" has a few good moments, but for the most part, it's just another bar rock song trying to make its way to the radio. They still put their seal on it, which gives its a nice kick, but they always seem to go back to the bar rock type crap right after gaining momentum with a nice hook.

A really good CD that will let you have fun and rock. Although, it does seem to sound all the same for a while, you need to get into it to start tracking the differences. But after you listen to it for awhile and start getting a feel for it, you not only will start to fall in love with it, but you will start to laugh at others who claim the tracks sound the same. A B+ job from this up and coming band!

Shaft: Quint

Shakers, The: The Shakers

[Issue Five // February 1998]