The Alabama Shakes
At the tail end of 2011 we’re beginning to look back upon the highs and lows of the year that was. I won’t into the details here (we’ll save that for the impending 2011 wrap-up post) but I can decidedly say that one of the coolest things to come out of 2011 was The Alabama Shakes. They were the talk of the town for the most of the mid year and after being the most discussed unsigned artist of the 2011′s first half they’ll be heading into 2012 with a Rough Trade deal under their belt.
The Alabama Shakes – ‘On Your Way’
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There’s southern blues guitar out the eyelids and a real original soul feel that most bands can only dream of capturing. The titanic vocals of Brittany Howard are the centrepiece on most tracks, rising, falling, swelling and peaking, constantly laden with believable emotion. I was going to polarise The Alabama Shakes with Jinja Safari but really, it’s time I laid off Jinja Safari, they’ve had their fill of my snarky comments. I don’t know, who else is a visuals band? You know the kind I mean, all about craziness, costumes, themes and catchphrases. There are bands like The Flaming Lips that have spent the last thirty years demonstrating that you can do both, but I’m thinking about that real vapid, taste of the present type of thing with the headdresses, the bedouin fashion sense etc. I don’t know where I’ve gone with this, what i’m really trying to say is that this is what The Alabama shakes aren’t.
You just have to watch the below clip of The Alabama Shakes playing in a little record store to realise that there’s very little affectation to what you’re hearing. Hear and purchase the rest of their EP on their bandcamp.
Artists you need to know rn
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| 2. Voidhood | |
259 | 3. jamesjamesjames | |
186 | 4. Zan | |
174 |
| 5. Sesame Girl | |
147 |
Roll Tide Alabama.
I’d forgotten you were a local Stephen