Coming supposedly out of nowhere and disappearing somewhere similar, Shivaree are more than fit to join the hallowed space of a Gobshout’s Classic Albums.


Hailing from America, Shivaree released debut album ‘I Oughtta Give You A Shot In The Head For Making Me Live In This Dump’ to a wave of critical acclaim in 1999 (indeed, the reason I stumbled upon it was 5 star review in The Times).  Expecting big things from this unknown quantity, I was somewhat disappointed at opener ‘Cannibal King’, and its 48 second long tale of a cannibal king with a big nose ring who fell in love with a sweet young maid.  This was most certainly not the smokey Americana I’d been promised by those nice people at the Associated Press .

       
Oh the perils of a rushed judgment!   What was to follow was 11 song mash up of funk and emotive melancholia.   ‘Daring Lousy Guy’ with it’s opening sample of ‘well that’s beautiful-’ launches into a full on party tune with some measured blues-y bass pushing it along.  The same can be said for the uptempo ‘Goodnight Moon’-that garnered a small amount of Radio play upon the albums release and features on Kill Bill: Vol 2-  with its sing-along chorus of 'what should I do just a little baby/ what if the lights go out a’ maybe' distracting attention away from the fact there’s a real horror movie atmosphere to the song. 

      
As great as these songs are and vital to the album as a whole, it’s the slow numbers that you look forward to, for it’s here that lead singer Ambrosia Parsley’s gorgeous voice is given room to do it’s thing.  ‘Idiot Waltz’ is enough to (almost) make a grown woman cry as she decries the perils of an idiot in love over some spare strings and a low, almost unheard backing vocal.  Listen to the end where she whispers 'they say if you’re smart/then you don’t buy used parts/idiots usually do' in the midst of a painful break up, and a trip to the corner shop for the biggest bottle of whisky available would be quickly in order.

       
Similarly, the epic ‘Arlington Girl’ brings everything back to basics- opening with just a military style drumbeat, piano and Ms Parsley’s voice before opening up into cymbals, organ in the chorus.  Like ‘Idiot Waltz’ there’s an ecstatic melancholy to the song, no more so than during the vocal of 'she does rain dances when she’s feeling sad.'  For a song to clock in at nearly 7 minutes and not really change tone could be described as  a major risk and a recipe for song-skipping but the opposite is true.  It’s fucking lush.        There’s a peppering of other great tunes throughout the album- ‘Pimp’, ‘Lunch’ ‘Bossa Nova’- all which have their place. 


Interestingly, I happened upon the 2004 ‘Breach’ E.P of Shivaree’s in Zavvi (God rest its soul) recently.  There seems to be less of the really emotive stuff, and the funk isn’t so implicit.  It’s sill good mind, and it’s got a duet with the ever great Ed Harcourt so ticks boxes in that respect, but it didn’t quite have the atmosphere of ‘I Oughtta...’ Be that as it may, Shivaree deserve all the recognition in the world for their first offering, ‘cos it truly is a beauty.

Have you heard Shivaree's album? Have you heard any of their other releases? How do they compare? What's your classic album? Let us know!

Posted In Classic Albums, May 13 2009. Words - Laura