Shellac - 1000 Hurts

  by Peter Liddle

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: Touch And Go
Format: CD

intro

'1000 Hurts' is a strange affair. Its casing is attractive, but while it is sleek on the outside, on the inside it is less pleasant. Imagine all the pain and heartache, anger and angst, injustice and

'1000 Hurts' is a strange affair. Its casing is attractive, but while it is sleek on the outside, on the inside it is less pleasant. Imagine all the pain and heartache, anger and angst, injustice and suffering you've felt about people and multiply it by 1000. Now add brilliant minimalist post-punk guitars, crazy time signatures and another load of anger. Welcome to Shellac ! At the outset vocalist Steve Albini declares on the opening track 'Prayer to God' that there are "two people here and I want you to kill them". What follows could have been a long dragged post-punk experimental rock epic as Shellac have been known to do previously, but it doesn't linger - he gets straight to the point, screaming out a mantra of "kill him/fucking kill him/kill him already/kill him". And you believe him. It is delivered with astounding conviction. It seems that Albini is right when he shouts later on "this isn't a metaphor, God Damn this is real." The production of the album has a live feel, and this adds to the songs' already honest edge. The guitars stir up Albini''s emotions well, and the drumming by Todd Trainer is tense. The odd time signatures keep the music interesting throughout. These in-and-out of time patterns are effective and alongside the drums (especially some of the snare drum rolls)make really great listening. Steve Albini has created an album which has captured both his anger and also his soulfulness. It has all the edge of some of his finest productions (Nirvana, The Pixies) and as well as being revealing, is also intelligently arranged. Bob Weston's bass playing helps this too, and his work on this album is brilliant. This album is Shellac's finest, and at that, one of the finest albums of the year It is how anger should sound. 'New Number Order' has Albini telling you at its beginning that he is going to change the order of some numbers instead of saying them in order. Doesn't sound scary ? Well, it is ! Shellac have created an album where everything you hear you believe, and in which everything they do will affect you. I love this album. It's not a happy album, and it's certainly not fancy. But it's a masterpiece, and it's one of the most honest and affecting rock albums I've heard.

Track Listing:-