The Sweet Shine

"Elektra Kats Spread The White Force". That's Exactly What I Thought Meeting The Sweet Shine Back In Summer 2002. An Unpredictable And Smarty Power Trio All Angular Poptones And Sharp Riffola... A Club As Anonymous As Million Clubs On This Planet And Mind You After 2 Songs I Saw The Light. Not To Say They Were Anything But Just Professional At That Time They Were High Without Narcoleptics And Mighty Without Any Trace Of Bad Metal In Their Formula. Ted B The Singer And Guitarist Was Nothing Less Than The Perfect Young David Bowie Revisited By Thurston Moore Nash Performed A Credible Impersonation Of John Entwistle And Drummer Travis Was Probably A Huge Meteors Devotee... And It Worked. Rock. Yeah !! But... In Short. More Than That... Rock Means Parody. The Sweet Shine Meant R.E.A.L.. Punkypop ? Yeah !!! But No Regressive Songs About Big Tits And Shit In Your Baseball Caps. No Mowhawk Either. These Guys Had A Much More Important Cultural Background Than Any MTV Sucker. I Saw The Light As I Said. I Know They Stopped For A Short Time 2 Years Ago Or So Their Original Drummer Left And So... But Like The Original Phoenix The Sweet Shine Definitely Rose Again. A New Line-Up And The Band Landed On A Far More Exciting Planet... Ice-Queen Ingebor On The Right Side Of The Stage All Garbo On High Heels And Pre Studio 54 Make Up Vet The New Drummer Straight From His Campus Delivering The Goods With Fantastic Precision Adding Echoes Of Early Martin Hannett Electronic Textures To The Sharp Celluloid Sound Of The Band. Nash Flegmatic As Usual Providing One Of The Best Groovy Bongbeat I've Heard For Years. And Ted B All Glitter And Style Strumming A Vintage Cherry Red Emperador Half Byron Half Lydon Thrilling The Audience With An Unexpected Powerful Voice. A Fantastic Step Forward. It Was Written. The Gospel According To The Sweet Shine Meant Today The Basement Tomorrow... The Galaxy. Cheers. Dylan Graham Brussels July 2005 read less