Not that I've ever had many friends who were into much of the same music as me (or "many friends" at all for that matter), but I've never really known many people who were into Shift, and that pains me, because when I think about it, I've actually always been a really, really huge fan of this band. I saw them live at least one time way back when—I can't for the life of me remember who with—but it was a fucking dead zone, without a doubt one of the worst "crowds" I've ever had the great displeasure of being a part of, and I distinctly remember feeling so shitty and uncomfortable for the band. Because they were so fuckin' great, but they were playing to a half-empty room of ingrates that wouldn't have known good music if it crawled directly into their ears and fucking died. But hey, I sincerely enjoyed it. I think I bought a shirt, though my memory sucks. But I know I had a Shift t-shirt from the time of this album, and I know I wore it so much that I sadly no longer have it because it deteriorated to the point of being unwearable, which has only happened to me a handful of times in my entire life (I'm pretty sure I still have my Cynic "Focus" shirt somewhere, and I'm pretty sure I could still wear it somewhat comfortably if I really wanted to).
Yes, I'm rambling, but barely anyone reads this shit anyway. I lost 25% of my readers when they saw this post's album cover, another 25% when they figured out that this one isn't metal or hardcore (probably because the album is non-aggressively titled "Spacesuit", which is simply not "tough" in any way), and another 25% when I just openly admitted that this one isn't metal or hardcore (because they hadn't figured it out yet—and the metal fans saw Cynic mentioned, so they were hanging on out of curiosity). Or maybe I've just been missing the open-mindedness a little lately, eh?
Point is, as usual: This band rules, and more people should appreciate their work (albeit posthumously).
"Spacesuit" was Shift's debut full-length on Equal Vision Records, released in 1995 (the year following their just-shy-of-equally-awesome debut EP, "Pathos"), a time when post-hardcore and emo/indie rock gelled together perfectly and just kicked ass. 10 tracks in less than 45 minutes makes for a well-focused display of those trademark dissonant rings, pounding basslines and percussive work, and super unique vocals that really helped to separate the band from the pack (though admittedly their overall riffing style always had a little more color and variety to these ears, despite obviously utilizing similar grooves and textures). The songwriting, though, I mean... shit, vocalist/guitarist Josh Loucka is a flat out fuckin' genius all around, 'cause the dude's material is consistently gold. Shift rarely stumbled (on this record "A Thousand Times" is the only minor hitch, and were it not six minutes long it wouldn't affect the continuity in the least), his post-Shift outfit Big Collapse was totally amazing ("Prototype" is a fuckin' 10, no shit, get it. Now.)... I just don't know how the hell people can pull it off. Impressive. I'm not saying enough, which is how it always goes lately, but... such is life.
To me, this is absolutely a "post-hardcore" classic.
Shift "Picturesque"
Shift "Spacesuit"
I'm not sure if bassist Brandon Simpson went on to any other acts or not (the band's MySpace profile doesn't say, but you can check that out for a little more "history"), but as mentioned Loucka ended up in the excellent Big Collapse, while drummer Samantha Maloney went on to play with both Hole and Mötley Crüe (Believe it!), among others. Nuts! Apparently Josh is working on something new as well, so... I for one can't fucking wait for that shit, 'cause I was beyond bummed when I heard that Big Collapse broke up.
And apparently I've broken the cycle, because miraculously you can't get this album for a penny at Amazon.com! You can get it for a couple bucks, though, so that's not too shabby. And it's on the ol' iTunes if you wanna go that route, too, so... I just hope someone out there enjoys it as much as I do.
And if not... you're all crazy!
Comments
i just remember the big thing against shift was how quicksand they were. i distinctly remember pathos having multitudes of quicksand parts. now i’m going by sheer memory at this point as i haven’t heard pathos in what 12 years? but i vaguely recall the recording having “slip” style going on. of course now if a band was more like quicksand i’d probably give them some credit, but at the time not so much. i also recall maloney getting a lot of hype when pathos came out,,,ie talking about her endorsements, etc. ANYWAY, i’ve been enjoying your writing/reviews/blogging for several years. keep it up. rockon
2.15.2008 | By ben
Big Collapse played here in Little Rock and I forgot about the show. I’m still kicking myself over that one. Prototype is one of the best records I own.
“Get In” by shift is good too…and you CAN buy that one for a penny on amazon.
2.15.2008 | By Jeremiah/Dead City
Well I have to say, if nothing else, this post turned me on to Big Collapse, what a great fucking record. I had been a huge Shift fan back in the day and, while sounding a lot like Quicksand in some spots, I thought they did a good job of making a sound all their own. Pathos and Spacesuit are among the greatly underrated albums of the time. I never really appreciated Get In as much as I probably should have just because it was major label and at the time I was dumb and didn’t realize that major label didn’t just mean cashing in and making bad music. Thanks for posting this as I bet there will be a lot of people who missed these guys the first time around.
2.15.2008 | By chris138
I enjoyed this band a lot at the time and I still own this record and their major label debut, Get In, which is not as strong as the songs here.
And yes, it’s very Quicksand sounding. At that time I was down with that…I mean, millions of bands sounded like Youth Of Today and I was into that.
It was certainly an interesting time in the hardcore world…and it’s cool to see some of these bands getting their due now as at the time they almost seemed invisible to the rest of the music world.
2.15.2008 | By Chris
QUEENS REPRESENT!
Shift were unjustly dismissed. They put out some solid material and “Spacesuit” reallt aged well. That said, I thought “Get In” was really weak. Some trivia, my friend Peter designed the cover for said album and is actually the person in the pic.
2.15.2008 | By Carlos
Awesome post. I absolutely love Shift and yeah that may or may not be due to them sounding a lot like Quicksand, but in my small little world I wish every band sounded a bit like Quicksand, haha. I can’t count the number times I’ve spun Spacesuit in the car too and from work over the past few years. Amazing record. Get In wasn’t as strong, but there are still some pretty good cuts on that record. Big Collapse may have been unjustly overlooked more so than Shift even, another great band that no one ever talks about anymore.
2.15.2008 | By Jonathan
I’d have to agree that Big Collapse probably did fly under the radar even more than Shift somehow. Because as much as I loved Shift, I didn’t even know that Big Collapse existed until the SECOND record had been out for a little while, and when I finally heard it my mind was so severely blown from every direction that I just couldn’t comprehend why I wasn’t fully aware and able to have owned that record from the very day it hit the streets. That fuckin’ thing is just so damn good…
2.15.2008 | By Andrew Aversionline
>Yes, I’m rambling
no, you’re not. i love it when when reviews are spiced up with this kind of storytelling/humorous shit. makes it less sterile.
i’ve heard “sunflower” back when, and though it stuck in my head, i’ve never bothered to check ‘em out. but i did buy “prototype” blindly after reading your gushing review. i’m about to remedy neglecting shift for so long too.
oh, and by the way, guys: welcome to reality. greatness passes under the radar, while fight paris get all the money and pussy. c’est la vie.
and, andrew: thanks to your non-“hard shit” reviews i’ve discovered some of my now favorite bands (this et al…) so… keep it up.
>half-empty room of ingrates that wouldn’t have known good music if it crawled directly into their ears and fucking died.
ha-ha!
2.15.2008 | By chris
Wasn’t a big fan of Pathos or Get In, but Spacesuit was, is, and continues to be solid gold. Don’t ever apologize for the non-metal/HC reviews, either.
2.15.2008 | By cliff
dude, i love this band. they were very popular in seattle when i was in high school, probably because Mark from Undertow joined the band. i saw them a few times, and i thought they were great. i actually thought Get In was their best record. the label pushed that HARD, but it just never got any traction. i had like 4 or 5 different promos from that album that i got from cutout bins and stuff. they were one of the first bands from the hardcore scene to go full on rock (along with Farside). great band, totally ahead of their time and underrated.
2.15.2008 | By sergeant d
That is indeed pretty good! ‘Picturesque’ sounds a LOT like Slip-era Quicksand to these ears but I’ll definitely still look out for this one…
2.16.2008 | By mooseybwoy
Shift was a great band ... and the “Pathos” ep is still great ...
2.16.2008 | By V.
I had to stop playing “PIcturesque” at 1:17. “Spacesuit” made it to 0:34.
2.16.2008 | By manisthebastard
Good band. I started with Get In and didn’t like it much but years later went back and picked this one up. It really is a great record. I’ve never heard Big Collapse before, something tells me I’m in for a treat.
2.16.2008 | By Paul
im at a computer with NO FUCKIN SPEAKERS so i cant hear this SHIFT stuff right now. but 66.6% of the reason i come here is to read the reviews themselves anyway, so… its hard to lose me, whatever you post about. i like an album title like SPACESUIT. whats wrong with that? shit. im all for an open mind. i wouldnt mind if you posted about THE PARIS SISTERS. Ive been digging them lately, just got the Complete Phil Spector Sessions disc, and its some great stuff. Am i off base here?
2.17.2008 | By joe
oh yeah i forgot: i saw a KINGHORSE show in richmond in 91 that had me and maybe four other people in the crowd. i was disgusted with the whole town for being so lame as to ignore this great band, but they were tight as hell and played as though the place was full. best show i ever saw.
2.17.2008 | By joe
Yeah, really loved this album, the best thing Shift released. The major label album ‘Get In’ was good too, except for that cheesy track “The Best Song I Ever Wrote” (I guess it kept Sony happy :) ).
Andrew - as a total aside (except that they could also be classified as post-hardcore) I’d be interested to know whether you or anyone else reading these posts ever checked out a UK band called Understand. They were incredibly underrated but wrote some amazing ‘post-HC’, ‘Quicksand-y’ material.
2.17.2008 | By Adam G
You know what, I feel like someone emailed me once and told me to check out Understand, and I think I did, but I certainly don’t own any of their shit. I need to make a note to re-investigate that one. Hmmm…
And being the sucker that I am for catchy songs, I always though “The Best Song I Ever Wrote” was awesome, ha, ha! I always liked that album, too. Not as good as the others of course, but I never had a problem with it, even back in the day when “major label” was so much more of a “dirty word”.
2.17.2008 | By Andrew Aversionline
Thanks SO much for the writeup on Shift! I loved them when I first got the Pathos EP from EV and still love them today. I like all of their music, even Get In. These guys n’ gal rocked! I thought I was the only one who liked Shift because no one else I knew even had heard of them.
2.17.2008 | By Michelle
Drew Johnston got me into Shift and Big Collapse about 2 or 3 years ago. They came up in a conversation when I kept ranting about how Slip could very well be the greatest release of all time and how I should start a Quicksand coverband called Slipped or an Obituary coverband called Final Thoughts (we were joking…).
I actually prefer Big Collapse to Shift but both bands are great. Highly recommended.
2.17.2008 | By Dan
Yeah, I was a fan mainly because they DID sound like Quicksand. Great record still. Thanks for reminding me of it (I have a TAPE of it somewhere).
2.18.2008 | By statts
Well, I’m one of the metalheads who stuck around to the end of the post.
Good band, but based on these two songs, it’s not something I’d likely listen to much. For what it’s worth, I did like “Spacesuit” a bit more than “Picturesque”. I’ll keep the songs around a while longer and try to give them another shot or two before making my final verdict.
2.20.2008 | By Dichatomy
Great band..saw them in Denver twice.. and I agree sorely overlooked. I always found it funny that the same kids who were calling them Quicksand rip offs were listening to third generation Earth Crisis Syracuse Rip Off OPen E Chug Divebombers 24-7. Good stuff
Anyway.. post Big Collapse Josh had a myspace page for KODIAK which it seemed were him and the two other guys from Big Collapse minus Gavin.. but the page has been dormant for a bit..
2.21.2008 | By Lifetime
FUCK YES. I had never heard of Kodiak either but just went and found the link:
http://www.myspace.com/kodiakband
There it is for everyone else.
FUCKING AMAZING. God damnit that guy is the fucking man. Why is this band not signed, or why have they not released anything? What the fuck is wrong with this planet? I cannot handle the injustice of this world…
2.21.2008 | By Andrew Aversionline
oh man what luck. i Just remember this band existed (i think my memories of quick or handsome where more dominant). anyways a friend hooked me up with a video to “i want to be rich and famous” and all these memories of here shift on the radio came flooding back to me so I immediately did a search on hypemachine and BAM. this article was just posted 5 days ago. now i that i think about it I used to hate shift when i first heard them
2.23.2008 | By jonah