Sharks
sophomore album, 2013's
Selfhood
, is a melodic and catchy batch of guitar-driven pop that finds the band moving away from the hard-nosed punky style of their early EPs to a more mature, nuanced sound. Still led by singer/songwriter
James Mattock
,
are less snarling in tone here and much more interested in crafting sparkling, hummable songs built upon guitarist
Andrew Bayliss
' arpeggiated guitar lines. Though there is still a no-nonsense vibe on
seem less indebted to such punk icons as
the Clash
and
Social Distortion
, and more inclined toward the British folk-rock of
Billy Bragg
Billy Childish
, and even solo-career
Morrissey
. Which isn't to say that
have softened their pub-hardened attitude. On the contrary, while their music certainly reveals a love of classic pop songcraft,
still pummel through these songs with a purposeful energy and muscular single-mindedness that bring to mind the more ruminative post-punk of their forebears. It also doesn't hurt that
Mattock
, once a throaty vocal presence, has developed quite a bit as a singer, and reveals himself to be a compelling crooner. The change only works to help him sell his lyrics, which retain all the working-class passion and literate rage that made
' previous work so compelling. As
sings on "Your Bloody Wings," "I'm Standing before a sea of blank faces/Tied up to the burning sign of the times/There is no room for you to spread your bloody wings and be everything as you want to be." With
have come into their own as a band, one that's grown past the simple sturm und drang of punk's three-chord limitations and emerged as something even more inspiring. ~ Matt Collar