This started as a Singles! review then morphed into a video review and is now an EP preview because when it comes to Boston’s The Shirts and Shoes sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Especially when the flow sounds anything like their new EP that’s just about ready to launch.
When last we met with The Shirts and Shoes they were getting their Sinner Swing on with eight rollicking rawkers and now, almost two years removed from that release the quartet is back with four fresh new tracks that expand, elongate, and elaborate on everything that makes The Shirts and Shoes brand of Rawk stand out.
“Drear” is all that and a bag of chips. Big on bravado with the musicianship to back it up, the opening track from new EP Episodes hustles and hums as it burrows its’ way into the recesses of your temporal lobe (But in a good way!) with equal parts slick guitar solos along with some chunky riffing, a start/stop synchronicity within the robust rhythm section and lush vocals to top it all off. Next up, “Ice” is just modern Alternative perfection with some not so subtle Grunge leanings inhabiting the sonic walls built here with the low end of Eric Gonnam’s drumming and Alec Gervais’ bass being all dirge-like while Tyler Charron’s subdued vocal style meshes nicely with the way his and Emiliano Calvo’s guitars flex their frets to add some heft to the melancholy mood.
If “Ice” was your cuppa then just wait until you get a load of “The Stone King”! And if it wasn’t then we think you’ll love it still. Like early Toadies mixed with Alice In Chains’ self-titled third LP and Charron’s croon hovering above all like a spectre before a spectacular breakdown, “The Stone King” is just it. And let it never be said that The Shirts and Shoes don’t know how to produce an entertaining video (“Wolf” way back in 2019 was what hooked us after all). It also helps when the song that serves as the soundtrack to said visual accompaniment (Directed and filmed by KillPete Films) is an absolute banger like our initial reason for boarding the Episodes train, “Jai Alai”. Reminding us a little bit of IAMDYNAMITE but with bigger grooves, “Jai Alai” should be considered the perfect entry point if wondering what The Shirts and The Shoes “sound” is.
Episodes arrives on March 1st. You can get all the info on pre-orders and pre-saves as well as all the pertinent links to stay up-to-date on all things The Shirts and Shoes including the deets on their EP release party at Faces Brewing Co. on March 15th by heading here.