The Shackeltons

Who: Five twitchy post-punk (pink) flag-bearers from sleepy Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

Sounds Like: The Shackeltons provide a stout combination of clean, straight-lined production and cacophonous bursts of sound on their self-titled debut. Their blasts of angst, which are equal parts danceable bliss and seering noise, are held together by the jittery, literate lyrical musings of frontman Mark Redding.

Vital Stats:

• The band is named after Earnest Shackleton, an explorer who most notably attempted to cross Antarctica on foot in the early 1900s.

• The band has a few obvious influences (Pixies, Joy Division), but according to guitarist Dan Schuchman, the group also draws inspiration from soul crooner Otis Redding and gutteral rapper Busta Rhymes.

• Redding’s stage presence can get quite manic — he will often collide with his bandmates onstage. In one early gig, he had a bit of his scalp and some of his hair taken off by a ceiling fan.

Hear It Now: The band’s self-titled debut is available for download at iTunes. Check out the video for "The Breaks,� directed by Sam Jones (the same man responsible for Wilco’s I Am Trying To Break Your Heart film) above. - RollingStone.com

Shackeltons and Eagle Seagull, Mercury Lounge, New York City 9/16/07
words and photos by Shelley Mara

While many at Mercury Lounge (NYC) on Friday night were definitely out to see headliners Longwave, those of us who came early for The Shackeltons and Eagle Seagull were amply rewarded. And because it was the first time seeing both live, I am compelled to gush.

After trucking in from their hometown, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, (and trucking back soon after) The Shackeltons performed brilliantly to a sparse but growing crowd. Daisies were strewn across the stage, in what I’m told is a signature prop. As I understand it, the boys cart the flowers from their little home, an offsale gift from a townie friend. For those of you not familiar with the story of explorer and consummate drinker Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), after whom the band was named (though the spelling is slightly different), look him up and you’ll discover just the tip of the spiritual iceberg that makes The Shackeltons who they are. While idolizing Interpol, they also count Fugazi, Al Green, and Joy Division on their list of influences. Combine those emotionally charged bands with the strewn flowers and the adventurous story of E. Shackleton, and you get an idea of where the band derives their poetics.
Although I’m hesitant to say so, as it will come off as totally pedestrian, but the boys at times seem to channel the energy of the Beatles circa Revolver — not necessarily the sound, mind you, though the similarities are there, but from the feeling they evoke from beyond the stage. Particularly with the song “The Blood,� vocalist Mark Redding himself seems faintly reminiscent of a pre-Yoko John. Perhaps it’s more than a little premature to make such a grand conjecture at this point in the Shakeltons’ career, but believe me when I tell you I don’t take equating a band to the Beatles lightly. (After all, I didn’t join the Liam Gallagher as the new John Lennon Bandwagon at the height of Oasis’ pop-chart popularity.) Parallelism aside, I will say that the flowers, the sound, and Redding’s sweaty mutton chops had me thinking of myself vaguely like a Boomer mom stuck in the memory of a ‘Nam rally. Despite all of their spanky facial hair, upon closer inspection you can see just how young, and thus talented, these guys are. Except for Redding, the obvious leader of the group, the other boys look so fresh they could’ve been popped out of indie-rock bubble wrap that very day. While performing, Redding flung around the stage and among the audience, wild with energy. During the lulls, he shared stories of C-burg and its four-square-block downtown and how his mother had made the boys some peanut butter and jelly on pumperknickle (pumperknickle?) sandwiches for the road. He later said, “Who even knows what rock n’ roll is anymore. Why not have a sandwich?� Peanut butter, jelly, rock n’roll and the story of Ernest Shackleton. These lovely boys have an auspicious future ahead. - KEXP Blog

Artist of the Day
The Shackeltons
By Miriam Lamey 01.18.08 3:39 AM

Who? Hailing from Chambersberg, PA, the Shackeltons features Mark Redding (vocals), Eric Fisake (guitar), Dan Schuchman (guitar), Justin McDaniels (bass) and Sean Hallock (drums). Their nervy post-punk-induced self-titled debut LP will drop Jan. 29 via the Loveless label.

What's the Deal? Shake up a pinch of the Pixies and a dose of Black Rebel Motorcycle club with stormy instrumentation, the Shakeltons arrives unrestrained. Using surprisingly clean drums, guitar, and bass, the ferocious five-piece create an introspective and strangely attractive tumult of sound. The stony, vaguely frightening "Tremble" boasts edgy riffs to hit home its musings on love's pains and problems. Such raw sonic analysis continues on "The Breaks," where drummer Hallock's pinch-hitting delivery highlights the band's D.C. punk-influenced layers. Through it all, Redding's hypnotic vocals slice like a growly, uninhibited David Byrne, especially on "Your Movement." With Redding's angsty outlook and the band's steady backbeats, this four-minute nugget explodes in the middle for a frenzied tête-à-tête.

Fun Fact: The Shakeltons understand that a musician's lifestyle isn't all glamorous. "A long time ago, we opened for Our Lady Peace," guitarist Eric Fisake tells SPIN.com. "We didn't find out until we had arrived that the whole budget had been spent on this huge stage and to pay Our Lady Peace, so all we got was a bag of pretzels and a $25 gas card." Hopefully, the band didn't fight over who got the last pretzel.
- Spin.com

The Shackeltons —The Shackeltons
{7.3}
Buy it!
{Loveless}

Proceed with exuberance: The Shackeltons' new self-titled album may lead to blown out speakers and excessive speeding. The band has found that perfect indie-rock sound, with sonically charged, powerful post-punk beats anchoring lead singer Mark Redding's talking/screaming/pleading vocals.

These are eleven modern love songs. The listener is placed on a ship at sea (there are several references to ships and sailing on the album), and taken on a rocking, bobbing journey through waves of desire, yearning and heartbreak. The opening song, "Your Movement," has perhaps the best and most telling lyric of the album: "We held it in our hands/and didn't know it was love." The music that accompanies each song isn't especially wistful or floating, but offers layers and a buildup of sometimes frenetic energy. It's the kind of music I would love to hear live. Besides the first song, the other stars of an altogether strong album are "Yellow Cadillac," "The Ship" and "Emergency."

I knew the album met my approval as I drove to work and found myself continuing to turn up the volume further and further until I could feel the whole car rattling and humming. The Shackeltons is a vibrant, textured, emotionally intelligent album. I don't know if my speakers will ever be the same.
-Mary for Certain, January 25, 2008 - ThreeImaginaryGirls.com