The Sheila Divine

New Parade (Roadrunner)
by Tim Den

The hype is real. After months of accumulated momentum, indie rock/emo’s most talked about band is finally here. The Sheila Divine, Boston’s proud sons and the next biggest band on the block, has released the much anticipated full-length, New Parade. And if the flying gossip and rumors about how superb these guys are didn’t get your attention this whole past year, this album definitely will. A smooth blend of emotion and shoegazin’ rock, The Sheila Divine has taken the best parts of their contemporaries and mixed them into a style of their own.

With the nasal tone of The Smiths, big choruses of Knapsack, shaky vocals of Sunny Day Real Estate, and sometimes hints of Radiohead melodies, New Parade is a collection of the band’s influences under careful and meticulous guidance. And not only do they know how to utilize their influences instead of copying them, they rumble the ground with mighty doses of stomp. Yes, like all of their influences, The Sheila Divine knows how to rock. Best examples being “Hum” and “Like a Criminal,” especially during the exploding ending of the latter when guitarist/vocalist Aaron Perrino screams “rock you yeah, yeah, yeah” over and over again. Get the point? Good. Because The Sheila Divine are not content to just toy with your feelings (like other emo bands), they’ll kick your ass and then break your heart. So believe the hype, because The Sheila Divine is going to conquer all.
(536 Broadway New York, NY 10012)