The Alabama Shakes Thread

[WSPDBT]

I know they toured a lot and were supposed to be in the studio last fall. I haven't heard anything about them since Boys & Girls. Anyone know whats going on?

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I know they toured a lot and were supposed to be in the studio last fall. I haven't heard anything about them since Boys & Girls. Anyone know whats going on?

They've formed a new band called Wooden Wand and are recording a follow up to Boys & Girls called Nevermind.

[WSPDBT]

I know they toured a lot and were supposed to be in the studio last fall. I haven't heard anything about them since Boys & Girls. Anyone know whats going on?

They've formed a new band called Wooden Wand and are recording a follow up to Boys & Girls called Nevermind.

A simple I don't know would have worked, but ok.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I know they toured a lot and were supposed to be in the studio last fall. I haven't heard anything about them since Boys & Girls. Anyone know whats going on?

They've formed a new band called Wooden Wand and are recording a follow up to Boys & Girls called Nevermind.

A simple I don't know would have worked, but ok.

Blame Clams.

[Tequila Cowboy]

They're still touring a lot. Rolling Stone had a blurb about new material being quite different. All I know.

[WSPDBT]

They're still touring a lot. Rolling Stone had a blurb about new material being quite different. All I know.

thanks man. i hope they don't drift too far from their original sound.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

They're still touring a lot. Rolling Stone had a blurb about new material being quite different. All I know.

thanks man. i hope they don't drift too far from their original sound.

This is from an article I posted in the Shakes thread from back in early December:

Alabama Shakes nearing completion of sophomore album


Photo by Ben Kaye

[Steve French]

I love the colour of her git-box. Just saying.

[jimmyjack]

They've formed a new band called Wooden Wand and are recording a follow up to Boys & Girls called Nevermind.

[cortez the killer]

Panic Trucker is not amused.

[beantownbubba]

I heard they drowned when the watershed flooded.

[Clams]

I get the Shakes' facebook updates and for a good 18 months they were constantly checking in from shows that were, literally, all over the world. South America, Australia, festivals all over Europe, Japan, you name it. Unbelievable how big they became in such a short time.

[psychobillycadillac]

They're one of the closers for NOLA Jazz fest on Fri May 2, just announced today.

[cortez the killer]

I heard they drowned when the watershed flooded.

Stuck back there waiting for JJ?

[Howlinwolf]

They owe all their success to Patterson Hood btw....if it was not for him, they may have never made it out of the SE.

[dbtfan4life]

They owe all their success to Patterson Hood btw....if it was not for him, they may have never made it out of the SE.

exactly

[olwiggum]

They were making quite a name for themselves around here before they opened for DBT. If we're being honest, most of the credit should go to Aquarium Drunkard for first posting one of their demos on his blog. THAT's where PH heard about them.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

They were making quite a name for themselves around here before they opened for DBT. If we're being honest, most of the credit should go to Aquarium Drunkard for first posting one of their demos on his blog. THAT's where PH heard about them.

Agreed. Not to downplay Aquarium Drunkard's or Patterson/the DBT's importance but they also toured as the opening act for North Mississippi Allstars for a while. That's the one and only time I've ever seen them. That said, at that point they were still riding high on the hype initially generated by AD and from touring with the Truckers.

[olwiggum]

True. I think the AD article and the DBT tour BOTH helped them out tremendously, but the reason PH even came to see them at Pegasus Records that night was because of the blog entry .
Also, you mentioned NMAS. Had it not been either of them, someone else would have brought them along on tour .

[cortez the killer]

They were making quite a name for themselves around here before they opened for DBT. If we're being honest, most of the credit should go to Aquarium Drunkard for first posting one of their demos on his blog. THAT's where PH heard about them.

Isn't James jimmyjack a contributor to AD these days? The irony is delicious.

[beantownbubba]

They were making quite a name for themselves around here before they opened for DBT. If we're being honest, most of the credit should go to Aquarium Drunkard for first posting one of their demos on his blog. THAT's where PH heard about them.

Isn't James jimmyjack a contributor to AD these days? The irony is delicious.

[Tequila Cowboy]

New record announced yesterday. Single released. Color me unimpressed. I suppose we will see.

[PeterJ]

New record announced yesterday. Single released. Color me unimpressed. I suppose we will see.

I felt the same way. I listened to it, and it did nothing but make me wonder what happened. Very repetitive as far as the lyrics go, and quite boring musically.

[Barely_Oakely]

New record announced yesterday. Single released. Color me unimpressed. I suppose we will see.

I felt the same way. I listened to it, and it did nothing but make me wonder what happened. Very repetitive as far as the lyrics go, and quite boring musically.

Agreed. I'm hoping the single isn't representative of the new album.

[RolanK]

I listened once to the new track with less than optimal equipment, but I found it pretty interesting. Made me curious to what the rest of the album might sound like.

[rawkshow]

i was really into the shakes when they first came out, wore out their ep, championed them to all my friends, loved seeing them live opening for the truckers a couple of times & headlining once down in atl. then i caught them sometime last year at the orange peel & it was really different vibe. i guess what i really loved about them was that they were (to me) like a little garage band that played some pretty cool rock n' soul....sure they weren't all that original musically or lyrically enlightening, but they were fun & brittany sure could sing. flash forward to the peel show & the vibe was way different. the band was setup in the back & along the sides & the middle was basically reserved for brittany. it gave the appearances that they were simply a backing band off in the shadows & it was the brittany show. it was way more professional & lacked the refreshing energy i got from them earlier on. they played alot of newer songs & i really wasn't feeling them too much. the single they just released was one of the new one's they played & that's the only one i liked out of the new songs & it isn't that i really love that one. now to be honest, they'd been on the road forever & i think that show was the 4th night in a row they played, so maybe that's why there's was a lack of energy, but i'm not sure what to expect out of the new album & have lost a lot of my enthusiam for them since that show.

[lotusamerica]

Their music has always been repetitive, without much for lyrics. It's all about the vibe, which is either enough or it isn't. Don't Wanna Fight seems to follow right down that path to me, just a little different because of a disco tinge to the soul. And like the first round, not much in the studio, but I bet it burns pretty well live...

[beantownbubba]

The Shakes' new album is soul stirring and shape shifting. The New York Times says so. In a Sunday Magazine feature no less.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/magaz ... share&_r=0

[oilpiers]

i was really into the shakes when they first came out, wore out their ep, championed them to all my friends, loved seeing them live opening for the truckers a couple of times & headlining once down in atl. then i caught them sometime last year at the orange peel & it was really different vibe. i guess what i really loved about them was that they were (to me) like a little garage band that played some pretty cool rock n' soul....sure they weren't all that original musically or lyrically enlightening, but they were fun & brittany sure could sing. flash forward to the peel show & the vibe was way different. the band was setup in the back & along the sides & the middle was basically reserved for brittany. it gave the appearances that they were simply a backing band off in the shadows & it was the brittany show. it was way more professional & lacked the refreshing energy i got from them earlier on. they played alot of newer songs & i really wasn't feeling them too much. the single they just released was one of the new one's they played & that's the only one i liked out of the new songs & it isn't that i really love that one. now to be honest, they'd been on the road forever & i think that show was the 4th night in a row they played, so maybe that's why there's was a lack of energy, but i'm not sure what to expect out of the new album & have lost a lot of my enthusiam for them since that show.

The reality is, for the vast majority of people, Brittany is the show. The rest of the band may be totally competent, if not real good, but they are probably not a band that would make any mark without her. And she could likely have made her mark with almost any competent band. I have yet so see a video where her presence was not the primary reason I would ever be interested in them. Of course she will be marketed and highlighted. She is a once in a generation talent that ranks up there with some of the greatest soul/rock/blues singers of all time. I totally understand your perspective. You caught the early buzz, loved it, now it is commercialized and exploited to a degree. I was pleased with what I heard of the new album. Grateful it was not a continuation of the first. That leaves hope that the third album could be something completely different again, and possibly even better.

[Tequila Cowboy]

i was really into the shakes when they first came out, wore out their ep, championed them to all my friends, loved seeing them live opening for the truckers a couple of times & headlining once down in atl. then i caught them sometime last year at the orange peel & it was really different vibe. i guess what i really loved about them was that they were (to me) like a little garage band that played some pretty cool rock n' soul....sure they weren't all that original musically or lyrically enlightening, but they were fun & brittany sure could sing. flash forward to the peel show & the vibe was way different. the band was setup in the back & along the sides & the middle was basically reserved for brittany. it gave the appearances that they were simply a backing band off in the shadows & it was the brittany show. it was way more professional & lacked the refreshing energy i got from them earlier on. they played alot of newer songs & i really wasn't feeling them too much. the single they just released was one of the new one's they played & that's the only one i liked out of the new songs & it isn't that i really love that one. now to be honest, they'd been on the road forever & i think that show was the 4th night in a row they played, so maybe that's why there's was a lack of energy, but i'm not sure what to expect out of the new album & have lost a lot of my enthusiam for them since that show.

The reality is, for the vast majority of people, Brittany is the show. The rest of the band may be totally competent, if not real good, but they are probably not a band that would make any mark without her. And she could likely have made her mark with almost any competent band. I have yet so see a video where her presence was not the primary reason I would ever be interested in them. Of course she will be marketed and highlighted. She is a once in a generation talent that ranks up there with some of the greatest soul/rock/blues singers of all time. I totally understand your perspective. You caught the early buzz, loved it, now it is commercialized and exploited to a degree. I was pleased with what I heard of the new album. Grateful it was not a continuation of the first. That leaves hope that the third album could be something completely different again, and possibly even better.

You're right of course but I thought the unique thing about them, aside from Brittany's awesome voice, was that they were a true band in almost every sense. That vibe is gone and publication when they write about the band often drop all pretense start referring to AS as "her" instead of "them". I predicted all this from the first instant I saw them but I had hoped I would be wrong. It's familiar story but a shame just the same.. All that being said I've enjoyed the few live TV appearances lately and the new material is so far pretty strong.