Search - Shelby :: Luxury of Time

Random, infectious find. Very familiar, but fresh, sincere,

J. Elder | Austin, TX | 08/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Shelby utterly randomly during a rare insomnia-induced 3-in-the-morning blog-grog... darkened room, glowing screen, just not feeling quite right for some reason. Some self-styled record reviewer had a very well written and balanced critique of The Luxury of Time. Shelby was not at all his normal fare, he was careful to state clearly... but a reader sent him the disc to review, and before long it was in heavy rotation on his stereo, and in his head while trying to get some sleep at night.



Shelby is a bit moody, but not some stoned out shoe-gazing depression-inducing drudge... Shelby rocks... lots of hooks, surging and pulsing guitar, richly layered, wrapping the listener in sound, bass and drum driving right up the middle, making it very hard to not move to the music. The blog guy had a couple of tracks available for download... The Wait, and The Golden Boy. Within a few seconds of The Golden Boy, all web surfing had stopped, and I was on my feet rocking out. Utterly catchy... both tracks. I'm not too familiar with the band at all really, but they're clearly skilled musicians and have a very diverse set of influences shaping their sound... influences that seem to coincide very neatly both with what I enjoyed in the early and mid-90's in College, as well as a type of... let's say... less overtly unhappy... and a whole lot less certain about everything... vibe I find myself enjoying today in music and media.



This music is *very* familiar in character... like an old friend you get to experience in a whole different set & setting, and with the benefit of a decade or more of life's constantly evolving and ever-changing sameness to enrich the encounter and keep us on the edge of our seats as we get reaquainted... Eyes closed, swaying and rocking out in the wee hours of the morning, in my bedroom alone... it brought back feelings I haven't felt since doing the same thing to Smashing Pumpkins' album Gish, and Ritual de lo Habitual by Janes Addiction that summer between high school graduation and the amazing freedoms consciousness expansion of college... revelling in a kind of optimistic guitar-driven angst in my bedroom, at 3 in the morning, definitely not feeling quite right... I have to say... it felt great to revisit that feeling state, yet to be taken there by music that feels new, with a mature character of it's own. At any rate... listening to those two tracks... i definitely had a memorable experience of my past, and my present merging in a musically blissful and ecstatic way. Good stuff.



The lyrics ... are alright ... I'm not sure there's a whole lot of depth there... but I am quite happy to have them looping in my head all day and night, swaying and bopping my head as it happens. My pretension alarms never went off ... I can't stand insincere platitudes ... lyrics that seem to be written by ad agencies or poseur poets with a lack of real experience behind their 'shooting fish in a barrel' sentiment ... Shelby's lyrics seem ernest enough, but thus far have not offered much that I can really relate to... except for a palpable, but in no way overpowering or melodramtic melancholy. ... Now and then I hear shades of Radio Head in the lead singer's vocal stylings... but lyrically nothing so poetic... or taxing... but nothing terribly trite or sappy either. ... maybe i can best describe my personal sense of Shelby's musical presence, very vaguely, as follows: ernest, slightly disaffected, urban/cosmopolitan style-conscious-but-not-obsessed early-30-something angst. Your mileage may vary. I like it... makes me happy... but not at all in the 'must see TV', hollow sanitized-for-radio-consumption, too many years on Zoloft numbed out sense of the word... and thank you Shelby, for that.. It's yet to be seen how much lasting power The Luxury of Time has with me, but i've enjoyed the ride so far."

An instant classic. Lovers of indie rock rejoice; Shelby has

Indie Reviewer | NY,NY | 08/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I received an early birthday present this year. It arrived August 9th (I was born the 18th) and it came in the form of Shelby's The Luxury of Time. This record is absolutely amazing. Each track has an identity all it's own. These songs infect you to where you cant go to sleep because your mind is still singing along to the songs. Oh well, I would rather rock than sleep, I'll sleep when im dead."