Band: Shallow Side
Album: Stand Up – 6/10/14
by Phil Kimm
As 2010 was drawing to a close, something was being born in the city atop the Brindley Mountain Plateau in Alabama. A five-piece garage band that would bear the name Shallow Side. Their mission would not just to play good music, but to have a conversation with the world about real life problems, real life failures and real life struggles. They would use as tools of communication their powerful, soulful voices, their fire-spitting guitars and drums that would suffer frantic pounding.
‘Live your dreams…but there’s a price’ can be said to be the crux of Shallow Side’s writing. But it is more than a flowery cliché to this band; it’s something they’ve experienced. They were out on the road 200 days a year promoting their debut CD Home Today as they introduced themselves to audiences all over the country. When they were not at a gig they were out on the street meeting and greeting potential fans. While it has its moments of inspiration, the band has learnt the hard way the price of life on the road. Maybe that’s what inspired the name of the album. Battered and bruised by the vagaries of travelling rock band existence, Shallow Side have still found time to put together an uplifting project called Stand Up which they released on the 10th of June.
To ruin the party before the confetti’s been broken out, none of Stand Up’s five
songs will blow you away with its novelty. Vocal inflections are nothing peculiar and instruments, while expertly handled, are guided down fairly predictable paths. Apart from the plucked banjo which serves as the prelude to “My Addiction”, and again pops up somewhere along its bridge, this collection of radio-friendly pop-rock ditties remains firmly in the box. However, the title track “Stand Up” is a rousing clarion call to anyone who has dreams, but is afraid to step out and do what it takes to realize them. The track still follows tried and tested alt structures down to the nuts and bolts, but the passion and urgency in the delivery are almost tangible.
Then there’s “Crazy”; a gorgeous ballad in which everything falls into place at the perfect time. From the feather-soft piano strokes that usher it in to the strumming on the box guitar to the electric guitar solo to the choir-like vocal harmonics. But if any song ever reeked of chart bait, it’s this sentimental number. Having said that, it would be cruel to take away from Eric Boatright’s heart-on-sleeve vocal performance. He leaves the listener in no doubt that he actually gives a damn about the lady he’s supposedly been separated from. Shallow Side then invite you to a raucous garage party with “Raise it Up”, the closer. The guitars sound happy as Seth Trimble and Johnny Rocketsteed wring the heaviest of chords out of them, as does Boatright as he urges you to burn up the town and touch the clouds. Seize the moment is the overriding message and there can’t be a more upbeat way to see out an album.
If you’re not a niggling purist and are looking for a shot of inspiration to get you through the day, Shallow Side have you covered. A Blink 182 or Green Day freak? Shallow Side will only be a natural progression. But if you like your rock undiluted with anything that sounds mainstream, you might have a problem with Shallow Side’s MO on Stand Up.
