Sharks are a band that really have had it all to battle against at home in the UK. Despite the relative quality of last release ‘No Gods’, they’ve still failed to really make an impact on this side of the pond, and with ‘Selfhood’ they’ll probably hit the same wall.
Though ‘Selfhood’ carries all the finer points of ‘No Gods’ in some of the tracks, it largely doesn’t quite match the urgency that made it look like the band were finding their feet last time around. Though the slicker melodies here may attract some new fans in, those tempted over before may not quite find this as interesting as the previous effort.
Tracks like ’22’ and ‘Room With A Great View’ are great pop infused punk/indie tracks, but they’re often paired with some not so great efforts like ‘Pale’, and on early listens it feels like Sharks will probably end up loudening the more impatient critics here rather than silencing them.
Once it does sink in a bit though, the more obvious comparisons the bands will draw subside for the subtle touches that they’ve always had a knack for, and ‘Selfhood’ ends up feeling like an excellent addition to this summer’s repertoire of records.
The band really aren’t ever going to please everyone and in some ways ‘Selfhood’ feels like a step to the side (or even backwards), but Sharks are doing what they do best regardless of what has been said about them in the past – they deserve a break for that alone, and ‘Selfhood’ has more than enough meat to draw in some new fans.
TOM AYLOTT