Best of 2008: #13. Adebisi Shank - This is the Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank

Foreword: Due to the density of albums being presented over the upcoming weeks, I won't be posting links with them. If you want a link for any of the albums shown, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

(Note to self: insert clever quip relating to how Adebisi Shank refer to themselves in the third person in their album title. You find this original and highly entertaining, and wish greatly to exploit this original sentiment to keep you from having to think of an introduction that isn’t gently laid on a platter for you.)

I first found out about Adebisi Shank from an excellent mixtape posted down at Hardcore for Nerds, chronicling the strongest alternative acts in Ireland. The song “Horse”, off the band's debut EP This is the EP of a Band Called Adebisi Shank, was one of the most noticeable songs off the playlist, and I was instantly hooked. Their debut album was released a couple of months later, and while it only clocked in at a meagre twenty-four minutes (for a full-length anyway), making it only seven minutes longer than their first EP, it still managed to be one of the biggest surprises of the year.

Adebisi Shank is either a punk band playing with complex time signatures and a strong sense of technicality, or a math rock band with a vigorous punk flare, depending on how you look at it. But however you choose to look at it, what Adebisi Shank deliver here are eight songs of pure adrenaline rush. An overwhelming energy radiates from this album, with the band playing with such speed and prowess that you’d be hard-pressed not to enjoy it. The song-writing is just as consistent in this sense; there’s not a song in sight that you wouldn’t be commanded to tap your foot to, if not outright make you get out of your seat and dance along with. The band utilizes quick, darting guitar riffs, intertwined with equally complex bass lines, to weave a musical tapestry that is both memorable and captivating, a rare feat for a math rock band. This is all backed up by strong rhythmic drum work that grounds the guitars, allowing them to roam free without turning the final product into a barely coherent mess. All in all, this is one of the most excitingly fresh releases of 2008. Don’t let it pass you by.

this has been the capsulated review of a band called Adebisi Shank. hah… get it? ‘cause that’s a play on the album title… yeah.