Shiva Speedway

Psychic City
by Scott Hefflon

The first full-length after many 7″s, split 7″s, and comp tracks for this three-piece, all-female band, this 12-song, 40 minute CD offers up a few surprises for those familiar with the tuned-low guitars and no bass sound so many have called “angular.” Shiva Speedway have been around since the mid-’90s, so you’d think someone woulda come up with a more clever way of describing them. While the Sonic Youth references are pretty on target, and the yelping of Hole appears quite often, there’s a haunting, thick sludge of melody (of both vocals and guitar) that makes them something other than just another tuneless, lo-fi band pounding noisily away hoping it passes itself off as art. Songs such as “Dub City” break into some almost dancy beats (in a lethargic, Cure kinda way) with strong, vibrato-soaked choruses similar to Rasputina. The real shock is the minute-long clank’n’rumble of “Sock Monkey” – a weird and wild experiment they oughtta pursue in the future. So if you thought all female bands from Boston were slightly more guitar-oriented Brit pop with cutesie vocalists, think again.
(PO Box 390643 Cambridge, MA 02139)