Night Shapes is a 5-piece rock outfit lauded for the energy of their live shows and their humility.
Background
Night Shapes formed as a band under rather unique circumstances. Coming together in the aftermath of a previous project, Jim Morose (vocals, guitar), Jose Davila (bass), and Brian Draper (guitar, vocals) admittedly “bullshitted” a few live shows and decided to form a full band, living together in Charleston, South Carolina.
In an interesting set of events, their landlord offered them up a large sum of money to break their lease and have them move out — and they accepted the offer. With the money, they moved out West and landed in Oakland, California.
By this time, it was 2015, and equipped with a drum machine and “a bunch of crap gear,” they carried on with their shoegaze, psych rock vibes and high energy. After a few more shows in Oakland, they picked up Brian Figueroa on guitar and Carl Patrick on drums. As the group puts it best:
“But really we’re just five dudes playing Rock & Roll with delay and stuff. We’re not cool.”
Thoughts
The drawn out introduction to “Content Relief” is incredibly well-designed. Crafting an experience for the listener out of the simplicity of what they expect — eventually some kind of transition — effectively captures your attention more than immediately giving into what they want. It’s a mind game within seconds into the track.
Once things pick up, you get the pleasure of a rock soundscape that penetrates every apathetic nerve in your body, at the very least, leading to some rather impassioned foot tapping. In comes an apathetic vocal chorus, so well in-line with the instrumentation, that its wall of noise accomplishes what some may call a small feat, but one that is difficult to find — vocals that actually fit well with the sentiment of the instrumentation.
Few greater musical joys can be found outside the walls of what Night Shapes has humbly created with “Content Relief” and even Run in general. They tell a story with their music and actively convince you throughout that it’s worth listening to. Call me a sucker, but I fell for it. 5/5.
Support
You can buy Run or “Content Relief” itself through Night Shapes’ own Bandcamp page. If you’d like to pick up a vinyl copy of the album, you can grab it off the Bandcamp of Heavy Dose Records. The group is on Facebook, too, where you can keep up with their news, announcements, and tour info.
They’ve got a show coming up, too:
- 4/5 in SF @ Brick and Mortar w/ Cellar Doors, Frankie and the Witch Fingers
