The Shell Corporation – Force Majeure

Over the last few months I’ve been insanely busy – working twelve plus hour days before even beginning work on stuff for the website. Because of that, I haven’t had a chance to sit and properly write any reviews lately. Just the other day I thought to myself that was a little odd and I missed it – but at the same time, there hadn’t been any records that truly jumped out at me and made me want to go out of the way and write a lengthy review.

Then I threw in The Shell Corporation’s Force Majeure.

This is a record that deserves that extra attention and plays through as one of the stronger albums of the last few months. From the get go, the album brings up some of the best of the underground. Elements ofStrike Anywhere, The Briggs, A Wilhelm Scream, After The Fall, all seep through in a nearly unmatched concoction.

There are moments when Force Majeure sounds like your classic Epitaph skate-punk but without feeling like a cliché knock off. This is sincere, honest stuff with passionate vocals that fall between Thomas Barnett (Strike Anywhere), Tom Gabel (Against Me!), Aaron Scott (Attica! Attica!) and Tom May (Mezingers). In fact, if you were a fan of A Lesson In The Abuse of Information Technology, this works at the follow-up that fits nicely between that and Chamberlain Waits.

But the similarities to other bands isn’t what makes Force Majeure stand out – it just serves as a nice starting point. No, the real power comes from the album’s ability to merge speeds, tempos and sounds while keeping it fully cohesive. There’s some technically driven skate-punk – like Strung Out or A Wilhelm Scream – with melodic elements like Rise Against or Marathon. They throw in the odd acoustic song (All of The Best, Broken Hearted Loser and Dust To Dust) that feels natural and authentic. You get a nice mix heartfelt lyrics along with pointed lyrics with a political edge with the two highlights beingQuantitative Sleazing (about the 2008 economic crisis) and the visceral Ozymandias that uses the famed Network sound clip to build up anger and excitement in the listener. I’ve heard the clip used countless times, but never to such success as The Shell Corporation has.

At the end of the day, I’m still working twelve+ hour days but its albums like these that keep me working through them.