Discovering new music has become an intrinsic part of my life here in Paris. Whether it's mixtapes that cute boys give me, or a casual suggestion from a friend, or an unexpected ticket to a live show, I'm making myself sick with the sheer amount of awesomeness my ears are being exposed to.
A key part of these recent mellifluous discoveries has been Shields (website here), a 5-man force of nature from Newcastle, UK. I recently had the pleasure of watching them open for Dispatch at the intimate La Flech d'Or, and man, were they tight. Their punky indie sound is so right in so many ways, and after 30 seconds of their opening number "White Knuckle Tight Grip", I was hooked. Frontman Rich belts out punchy lyrics delivered in both short spurts and melodic swirls, made wonderful with the close harmonies of Luke and Dave (Luke holding his own with pitch-perfect strength). Guitars full of tone mixed with full fast drums make their music a recent addition to the typical indie-punk trend (they have ), but Shields adds their own spice with percussion drums and samples from John and their unashamed toe-tapping choruses. Their music has clean edges, framed with razor-sharp drumming by the (let's not lie, he's pretty good looking) Tom. Together, this messy-looking bunch of Geordies played one hell of a show. I'm a fan.
This would be a pretty good place to end this post, seeing as the whole performance section is covered. Usually, that's all you get from a band when you go to see them. However, fate seems to work in a slightly more awkward way, deeming it necessary for me to (quite gushingly) introduce myself to Rich and Luke at their merch table after Dispatch rocked the stage. After sharing my slightly-embarrassing adoration for them, they were kind enough to sell me a shirt and an EP, and slowly (how did this even happen?), I got into a conversation with Tom (drummer, he's a drummer) about, well, drumming. Mentioning that I noticed he was left-handed, we started a slightly-over-my-head discussion about how drummers are like, man, the glue that holds the band together. I also got the story of how they all met back in music college in Newcaslte, prompting Tom to literally teach me how to say Newcastle (it's NuKassle, not Nyew-Carsle). This was followed by an interruption by Dave (oh, Dave), and a conversation with Rich about how no one even has record-players these days. Then Luke came over with a pint, which I convinced him to share with me, which somehow led into the ever-amusing guessing-game of where Tash and I are from (Dave thought we were American. American, I tell you).
The more they drank, the more they laughed with us, and after passing my EP around to be signed by them all, Luke heartily invited Tash and I on the road to Germany with them. We politely (but sadly) refused. They play in Berlin tomorrow night, and these guys left such a mark on me that I honestly looked up transport costs. Shields, sigh, those crazy guys. I've been listening to this EP non-stop, and it makes me smile that not only do they play good music, but they're good people. I hope we meet again, but if not, we'll always have Paris :)
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