Shoveljerk

Swarm (Capricorn)
by Jeff Fritz

The first bands that ever made me jump up and down, make faces, and play air guitar were Kiss and Aerosmith. Consequently, I grew up with the rather brain-stunted notion that a band line-up consisting of two guitars, bass, and drums represented some acceptable benchmark of ultimate normalcy for rock bands. Now, 20 odd years later as I listen to Shoveljerk, I find myself still cleaving to that same calcified mentality as I bounce up and down and shred my way through imaginary solos with still another in a long and seemingly endless progression of guitar bands that have plodded through the cultural wreckage of 20th Century America like the large green mascot of the Blue Oyster Cult wreaking havoc in the cardboard city of a Tokyo soundstage.

Shoveljerk has powerful melodies, well-developed song structures, a solid drummer and bass player, and interesting guitar interplay. The single being pushed for this disc is “Killing My Buzz,” which appears on the National Lampoon’s Senior Trip soundtrack; and though it’s a good song, I thought there were several better, most notably “Easy Target,” “Summer,” and the final track, “Pollyfector.” They blast some new spark into the comfortable old concept of the “guitar band.” Swarm provides a modern-day orientation for those of us who can’t get past our petrified notions of rock ‘n’ roll instrumentation.