On: The Shakamoto Investigation — Half Time Draw (+ Live at No Fun)
The Shakamoto Investigation have taken this period of nationally enforced hermitic seclusion and fashioned it into an opportunity to release their first single of this new (and already frightening) decade. They are also fresh from being forced to take a rain check on the planned Existential Bread tour, which naturally as a result of the current climate is an issue for many artists, and is just in general a shitty thing to happen.
The single rollout is accompanied by a live album, Live At No Fun where questions are asked and more than sufficiently answered about the vitality of their live sound (Loch Ness and a live version of Dead Already particularly of interest). So those currently entrenched in Covid-19 lockdown protocol can get their hands dirty with seven tracks given an injection of atmosphere.
As for the song itself we can gauge a snarling punk band hitting its stride. As a question of where exactly the chaotic, tight thrash of the rhythm section and wasted barking vocals come from, without the need to stoop to namedropping bullshit (like so many complacent musical descriptions do, and I reluctantly intend to carry the thread) this is somewhere along the lines of an anatopistic Tarn-born John Dwyer forcing George Hurley to play in his band via gunpoint.
All cylinders fire, and the two-and-a-half minute confrontation here is authentically barnstorming and batshit wild, held together by a memorable angular riff characterised by a meaty clang heard on earier singles like Dead Already and Take It or Leave It. It assumes a hyperfocused bounciness which builds tensely and hypnotically, serviced by tight and by some metric — funky riffs, serving much heavier ends.
A visual counterpart features the band revelling in an orgy of VHS images and incoherently sequenced found footage, interspersed with Ellis, Sam and Jake kicking a ball around a park among other shenanigans in shirts of presumably their individual footballing alliances. It should be noted that the phrase “half-time draw” is yelled frequently from the concrete driveway outside Oakwell Stadium to indicate a possibly winnable cash prize, which was something I indulged in occasionally as a child, but sadly never won.
Hopes are that the Shakamoto crew will continue to provide output in the future after crisis has been sufficiently weathered. The singles and EP released thus far are energetic and consistent, and despite the abrupt halt of operations this three-piece is continuing to plough their furrow. Until newer tunes surface however, these releases will have to do.
Listen here:
https://theshakamotoinvestigation.bandcamp.com/track/half-time-draw
https://theshakamotoinvestigation.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-no-fun
