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Now available to order, Melbourne's The Shifters latest 7". Anyone who's unfamiliar with this band should do themselves a favor and check up on their self-titled tape released a few years back, it's one of my favorite releases of the last few years. The Shifters combine the acerbic deadpan ranting of the likes of The Fall/ Country Teasers with jangly pop sounds a la early Flying Nun bands.
Our take: Latest 7” from this band out of Melbourne whose releases all seem to sell out more or less instantly. I doubt this one will be any different because it’s just as good as, if not better than, their previous ones. Descriptions of the band have a habit of mentioning both the Fall and Flying Nun Records, and it’s easy to see why, as the Shifters tend to rely on the repetitive song structures of the former but have a bit of the pop sensibility of the latter. While band’s debut cassette (which was recently re-released on LP) has more of the dreamy vibe of the Clean, this 7” reminds me a lot more of the Fall, particularly the period between Dragnet and Slates. “Melbourne & Monash Youth League” specifically could be a Dragnet outtake with its off-kilter, cheapo keyboard sounds and deadpan vocals. As I mentioned in my description of their cassette, the interplay between the two vocalists and the blatant Fall-isms also remind me of the UV Race. I suppose there isn’t much more to say… I’m sure I had a lot of you at “Australian band inspired by the Fall,” but even if you only dabble in that sound this is well worth checking out as it’s a cut above for sure.