Record Label: S/R
Genre: Garage Rock
Band Link: link
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You basically know what you’ll get before you even listen to it. With a name like The Shake, an album called “Kick It,” and a press photo of the band digging their vinyl collection of Small Faces and the Animals, it’s pretty obvious.

But to lay it out – they play late-60s British-style garage rock a la the aforementioned bands, the Kinks, etc., adding some Strokesy fuzz. For some kids from Queens, they play the style well on many of the tracks (“Princes & Kings,” “Devil’s Side,” “Manic Boogie”); but their more sappy Beatlesy pop is better left to Oasis (“8 O’Clock,” “Let Me Take You Far Away”).

I’m not big into retro, but the band emulates it well, even to the pitch-perfect garage vox and bluesy guitars. And yet it doesn’t move me. Maybe it’s the insincerity, or the dips into cheesy Britpop, or simply that the songs don’t ROCK, but I’d much rather listen to their influences.

Bottom Line: Britpop from Queens!
Notable Tracks: Devil’s Side
Overall Rating: