| CD REVIEW Paceshifters |
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Band : Paceshifters Somewhere in early 2008 adolescent brothers Paul (vocals/ bass) and Seb Dokman (vocals/ guitar), respectively 17 and 15 years old at the time, decide to take a way out of the everyday boredom of their village Wijhe (a small hamlet in the middle of nowhere, some 10 km South of Zwolle, Holland, an idilic area for amateur fishing and biking adventures, but dull as f**k on average youth) by starting to play some Garage Punk Rock 'n' Roll in their parents' home attic. Soon enough they decide to have a band, and after some hard searching among the village's youth they're eventually joined by then 18 year-old Koen Klarenbeek in June of the same year. From the beginning the guys had a great admiration for Supersuckers, and through sheer coincidence that band's guitarist Rontrose Heathman one day in early 2009 ends up staying overnight at the home of the Dokman boys. In the morning he was awoken by the trio playing a couple of songs upstairs in the attic, and evidently he went up to investigate! Playing a song they wrote about Supersuckers, Seb invited Rontrose to join in, and a bit later he was playing his trused Gibson to the tunes of "Do Whatever It Takes". There and then, a strong bond is forged, resulting in the release of a split-EP (with Rontrose playing on the aforementioned track), and Paceshifters joining Supersucker on their tour of the UK, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland. Next up the band records their single I Don't Listen with Peter van Elderen (of Peter Pan Speedrock) and thanks to the media attention the single gets upon release in November 2009, the band also makes it tv debut in the De Wereld draait Door show. On the side the band also plays support shows to the likes of Drive Like Maria, Peter Pan Speedrock, Nashville pussy, and Triggerfinger! Big feats for such a young band! But the boys top things off even better, playing at the Bevrijdingsfront Overijssel and Zwarte Cross festivals during Summer 2010. During April 2010, the band secluded itself at Amsterdam's Split Second Sound studio with Jochen Jacobs (of Textures). The story goes that when the band left the studio on the last day of the recordings, they were awaited by a somewhat bombastic Chevrolet Suburban, in which they're driven to the headquarters of the label that took its name from that car. A good hour later the boys signed their first record deal, leading to the official release of their debut full-length! A good moment to turn to the label's biography of the band, and the description they give of the boys' music : "...One For The Road combines the energy of the Ramones, the Rock 'n' Roll of Hellacopters, Foo Fighters' bluff, and rages through 13 songs in 43 minutes. How that sounds? You can best judge by yourself by listening to the shiny disc. And/ or go witness the band in live conditions, becaus ethen you get the extra time-space dimension on top...". Alternally, you can check out the couple of songs/ video's posted at myspace.com/paceshifters, and witness the band's no-holds-bared high-paced melodic Punk Rockin' tracks. You woùld have to pick up the album to find 'em in the more sentimental mood though of the balladesque "Dad", a song dedicated to their father, whom died in 1995. End conclusion? Tunes which are catchy because of their simplicity (you know, just guitar-bass-drums-vocals, the most basic of sounds!), nice twin vocals (of the rough kind – except during the aforementioned ballad), that resemble each other enough to be complimantary. Well done for youngsters their age, but let's not forget that the youth thing is not a before unseen thing! Right now, the band member's age is what's getting them the necessary attention to get the band's career goin' though! 83/100 Tony. |
