REVIEW: The Sheila Divine, New Parade (Roadrunner)
- Kerwin So
This is the moment that we self-indulgent record reviewers live for: the moment of discovery. The sheer joy of finding a great new band and getting the opportunity to tell others about it. The last time I felt this excited about a band was when I first heard Boston's Tugboat Annie; little surprise, then, that the fantastic new band The Sheila Divine is friends with them. For those of you who happen to love The Replacements or Sunny Day Real Estate and are short on time, skip the rest of this review and go out right now to buy The Sheila Divine's new record on Roadrunner, New Parade . For those kind souls willing to listen further, read on.
I'm not saying that The Sheila Divine is the new Replacements, but the comparisons do come immediately to mind, both in singer Aaron Perrino's heartfelt Westerberg-ian rasp and in his world-weary lyrics. You need a little clarity? Check the similarity:
"All I know is that I'm sick of everything that my money can buy." - The Replacements, "Here Comes a Regular"
"Make your money / Don't stop working / You have your future / Financial planning / Without purpose / Like the robots / I have purpose / I won't settle." The Sheila Divine, "Automatic Buffalo"
"Seen your video/ That phony rock and roll/ We don't wanna know/ We don't wanna know!" -- The Replacements, "Seen Your Video"
"On the radio a bunch of fakes/ Just shut them down." -- The Sheila Divine, "Hum"
"On the bus / Watch our reflection / On the bus / I can't stand no rejection." The Replacements, "Kiss Me on the Bus"
"We don't stand a chance/ It's the death of true romance/ When a glance is just a glance/ We don't stand a chance." The Sheila Divine, "Awful Age"
Those are just the lyrical parallels between The Sheila Divine and The Replacements, but the parallels don't stop there - what makes both these bands great is in their delivery, in sheer, gut-wrenching emotion. When Perrino screams "I'm a believer," there's no doubting it, just as you believed it when The Replacements' Paul Westerberg screamed "I'm so unsatisfied" back in '84. On the occasions when Perrino's emotive voice careens over the edge, it immediately recalls Kurt Cobain or Sunny Day Real Estate's Jeremy Enigk. And on the closing track's brooding nod to Radiohead, "Sweep the Leg," Perrino's vocals are a dead ringer for Thom Yorke's.
But while the musical parallels are evident, it's also clear that The Sheila Divine isn't blatantly imitating anyone else. Yes, they did come up with the phrase "Automatic Buffalo" on their own-- you might find the title silly at first, until you realize that Native Americans used to stampede herds of buffalo off a cliff to slaughter them for a year's worth of food. In that context, a song with lyrics like "So make your money / If it keeps you happy / There is no future / When you're just pretty" becomes that much more chilling. Moments of brilliance like this jump out at the listener throughout New Parade , braced by The Sheila Divine's distinctly dark, lyrical power-pop guitar jangle and heart-stopping breaks.
My only complaint with this album is that, at twelve songs, it's a little too long-they all begin to sound alike after a while. Nine or ten songs would have been optimal, but this is still a killer debut. Make no mistake about it, folks-The Sheila Divine is the real thing. In the process of mining their hearts and showing the rest of us what's inside, they've proven that rock ain't dead by a long shot.
