The Shell Corporation – Mandrake

I’m sad to say that I missed the party that marked The Shell Corporation’s quick rise to prominence in the punk underground.  Even with glowing reviews by colleagues and numerous appearances on year-end lists, only now does the Burbank quartet’s sophomore effort, Mandrake, serve as my formal introduction (I only checked out their debut, Force Majeure after the fact).  Not that I’m complaining – Mandrake is a musical mission statement if I’ve ever heard one – but the disc’s strength simply leaves me wishing that I had jumped on board sooner.

 Mandrake is a showcase of not notch melodic political punk that sufficiently breaks from the mold as it confidently runs through eleven highly opinionated songs.  First off, Jan Quixote’s vocals sound more confident than ever.  While he blended in more with the skate-punk tuned guitars for most of Force Majeure, Quixote comes across more like a thunderous bullet cracking above a battlefield in Mandrake.  More Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) than Thomas Barnett (Strike Anywhere) in style, The Shell Corporation’s condemnation of corporate greed and military aggression in tracks like “The Death Of Us” and “Bombs Away” is strong and decisive.  Quixote’s authority transfers well to the blistering drums propelling quick and dirty tracks like “Maguire’s Plea.”

Various vocal harmonies further define The Shell Corporation knack for ear-grabbing hooks and minor but memorable anthems.  “The Message” and “Trust Us” take a nod from Bad Religion’s mid-tempo fist pumpers, while “60 Hours’” calculated vocal control slows things down for a very vivid description and daunting atmosphere of what might be termed expendable white-collar slavery.  The drums and bass make the notion of self-inflicting “60 hours, and a paycheck” particularly ominous even in a corporate culture of rewards and bonuses.

The album ends with the slowly strummed acoustic piece “Prefect World,” offering Mandrake a glimmer of hope against the it’s otherwise grim backdrop.  The Shell Corporation’s formidable core combined with a light peppering of sonic variation (like the spirited upstroke defining “Even Bob Villa Couldn’t Fix This House” and Propagandhi-like aggression of “Appetite For Distraction”) round out Mandrake all major fronts. 

While I missed out on Force Majeure during The Shell Corporations first big slash, I am not making the same mistake twice.  Mandrake is highly recommendable dose of melodic punk rock well worth checking out.