Shearing Pinx

Shearing Pinx Poison Hands (2007 Gilgongo Records)

FIRST ROCK REVIEW!!!

From the first few seconds of this album one can already begin to gather that Shearing Pinx is not a typical punk band by the Sonic Youth-esque guitar tones. I feel that this group is very heavily influenced by Sonic Youth, considering the vocalist (while male) sounds like Kim Gordon. But instead of being influenced by the melodic structure like most bands, Shearing Pinx seems to be a child of Sonic Youth’s punk rock sound. With Poison Hands Shearing Pinx makes a pretty strong contribution to both punk and experimental music. The punk appeal comes in a lot of the guitar distortion, short songs, yelling vocals, and fast tempos. The experimental element is found in songs like “Blood Corridor” and “WhiteMud.” The group’s songwriting is also above the typical punk band, found in some of the syncopated guitar riffs in songs like “Cursed Love Matter.” One of the best tracks on the album is “Pumpknot” which has a great guitar drone bridge. One of the most intense tracks is the closer “WhiteMud” which has a very cool fast opening, which eventually dissolves into about nineteen minutes of very fast, loud, improvised noise. While this album is very cool, the band deserves more of a recommendation. They play a fantastic live show, and one can get a better sense of their musicianship live. Anyone interested in punk/hardcore music should check this band out, and I’m sure Moonchild fans will love it too.