Shellac
To All Trains
★★★★
TOUCH AND GO
It is safe to assume Steve Albini - the workhorse of independent records with high fidelity and low bullshit - would have hated a handicap earned by dying, as he did in early May. Let’s be frank, as he’d prefer: What may prove to be Shellac’s last album is not their best, however cinematic such a crescendo seems.
READ MORE: Steve Albini’s Best Albums Ranked
It is, however, a perfectly Shellac exit, the power trio rendered with seismic force (those drums!) and endless manoeuvrability (those razorwire riffs!). Albini squares up against, well, whatever he wants with that square-jawed bark: dudes acting tough in their little bands, men broken by mere existence (is that … a Metallica nod during Wednesday?), the persecutions of the past. It is sentimental and raw, demented and ultimately reaffirming. “Without regrets, we have no progress,” sneers Albini, who worked recently to make public amends for his former edgelord ways. If that’s the last testament of this singular powerhouse, hold it close.
Track List:
WSOD
Girl From Outside
Chick New Wave
Tattoos
Wednesday
Scrappers
Days Are Dogs
How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (Cock & Bull)
Scabby The Rat
I Don’t Fear Hell
To All Trains Is Out Now on Touch And Go
Get the definitive verdict on all the month's best new albums, reissues, books and films only in the latest issue of MOJO. More information and to order a copy HERE!
Picture: Jordi Vidal/Getty