Dude Incredible made it to number 2 in my albums of the year list in 2014 (in a very close top 5), but the truth is, I think any new Shellac album would chart pretty high - it'd have to be a very strange record to not make it into the top 10, and I just don't see them ever making such an album.
I got into Shellac in 2008 (by the way of 1000 Hurts), and had never really appreciated quite how soon that was after the release of their second-to-last album, Excellent Italian Greyhound. In 2009 I would see them for the first time at All Tomorrow's Parties (I recently commented to my brother-in-law how jealous I was that he was about to see Shellac for the first time, and that I wished I could have that fun again). Over the following years I bought all their albums and I'd see them as often as possible. I didn't think twice about booking tickets to the ATP they curated and was introduced to some incredible bands that weekend (I wonder if I'd ever have discovered and fallen in love with Dutch punks The Ex had I not seen them there). More than most musicians, I feel like I know them as people and love watching their dynamics on stage; they're a great band.
So when they announced Dude Incredible (no comma, as per the press release) I was very excited and bought a copy as soon as I could (which happened to be a few weeks after the release in All Ages, before going to a gig that is quite possibly the opposite of Shellac - Max Richter playing in the Royal Albert Hall). I was very pleased to hear Compliant, a song we'd gotten used to hearing live for a few years beforehand. Every time I hear it I picture the three of them on stage. The highlight for me has always been Riding Bikes which moves through in true unusual Shellac-style, before the climatic "I'm riding bikes!" and Todd's brilliant drum-fills. The intro before All the Surveyors always felt a bit unnecessary, but that's literally the only criticism I have with this album. The song itself is another instant classic, and probably one of their most accessible songs (it has verses and a chorus). There's a rare harmony in Gary and it's so slow it's almost doom, which is great. Only nine songs, but each one a treat.
In the years since this album, Shellac have started playing a couple of new songs fairly regularly so I'm cautiously optimistic that they won't make us wait another seven-year gap between albums. I certainly hope so, I'm looking forward to putting another Shellac album in the top half on an end-of-year list soon.
Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 9
Cost: £16 new
Bought: All Ages Records, London
When: 04/10/14
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A: "Some of them are none too fit" Side B: "Some of them are spectacular"
mp3s: cd included
