SHARKS – No Gods

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Released: 03/20/2012

Similar artists: Husker Du, Rancid, The Clash, the graduate, The Wonder Years

Genre: pop-punk, punk, rock

There was something very unique and special about British punk bands in the 80’s which made them relevant. It could have been the whole idea of anarchy and conformity being two distinct opposites, but the same thing could be said for punk music in general. We live in a new age now where the themes tend not to transcend because oddly enough, being a non-conformist somehow managed to become popular. The problem with modern British punk bands tend to be that they all want to be like someone else. In comes in SHARKS who for all intents and purposes have managed to avoid sounding like The Sex Pistols, The Casualties, or Rancid.

This time around though on their new album No Gods, SHARKS shake up their sound. The band touches upon modern pop-punk bands such as The Graduate with songs such as “’Til The Wonders Rise” and “Matthew’s Baby”. It’s arguable though that this sound has a lot to do with the influence of producer Brian McTernan whose signature sound has produced the last two albums from The Graduate. This creates an odd quarrel as the band tries to touch on their heavy influence of The Clash made apparent on songs like “Arcane Effigies” and “On a Clear Day You Can See Yourself”. Along the way in the album these sounds do learn to work together on tracks such as “Luck”. One of the problems is that most of the album can’t find middle ground.

It’s nice that the band doesn’t touch on typical non-conformity topics which most bands in their scene tend to overuse. Instead, most of No Gods presents a simple look at life. The message isn’t exactly important and it’s one of the true selling points to the album. At its finest times, it’s not trying to be anything other than simple punk music with a pop twinge. There is still a lot that SHARKS have to learn but if there is anything that No Gods accomplishes, it’s that the band shows a good deal of promise.

Dave Giumara

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