(2023)  The Shapiros – Gone By Fall: The Collected Works of The Shapiros        


Review:
Short-lived jangle-pop outfit The Shapiros were formed by Black Tambourine's Pam Berry and The Cat's Miaow's Bart Cummings, and "Gone By Fall" sweeps together all of their elegant, enduring material. Active for just a few weeks in the summer of 1994, The Shapiros came about while Aussie guitarist Cummings was stationed in Washington DC for a few months. Twee pop icon Berry was an active part of the city's indie scene, and the duo linked with Heartworms' Trish Roy and Veronica Lake's R. Scott Kelly (aka Scooter) who finished up the lineup. In three days at Velocity Girl's Archie Moore's basement studio the four-piece rattled off 12 songs (all of which are included here), nine original compositions and covers of Beat Happening's 'Cry For A Shadow', The Shirelles' 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' and 14 Iced Bears' 'Cut'. And although these tracks appeared split across 7"s and compilations, assisted by Berry's status as a cornerstone character in the fanzine-led DIY landscape, the band's brief lifespan meant that their ascent was limited. 'Gone By Fall' is a good chance to re-evaluate a band who fill in the gaps between plenty of better-known twee/C86 material, like Heavenly, Unrest and The Field Mice. By connecting the Australian scene with the DC basement world, it sounds as if The Shapiros were inking a monochrome page in a coloring book. The sounds always sat side-by-side well, and here entwine together perfectly in harmony: Berry's vocals carry the songs, but she's buoyed by Cummings' unmistakable jangles that sound like a gust of warm air carried over from simpler times. It had been a crucial experience for Cummings' who speaks of his DC experience as “the most fun I’d had in my life up to that point" - and he would team up with Berry again on his Bart & Friends project, but "Gone By Fall" documents a period that still feels ephemeral and unashamedly joyful. Like the best C86 loosies, many of the tracks here are over almost before they've started. Opener 'Paris Kiss' drapes Berry's casual poetics over Cummings' distantly psychedelic riffs and a drum beat so faint it's barely more than a rattle - just as you think it's gonna erupt into mayhem, it fizzles to a swift halt. 'Month of Days' is only a skosh more substantial, twinning a slovenly Doors-like rhythm with whimsical lyrics that hang in the dead air like a half-remembered schoolyard nursery rhyme. If you're looking for more weepy repeat-play jangle bangers, 'Gone By Fall' captures the giddy romance of peak Black Tambourine without repeating its fuzzed-out aesthetic, and 'Do You Know' is like early Belle and Sebastian without the all-too-knowing wink to camera. It's lovely material from beginning to end - if you know, you know, and if you don't, here's yrr chance. — boomkat


   


Track List:
01 - Paris Kiss
02 - Cry for a Shadow
03 - Month of Days
04 - Gone By Fall
05 - Makes Me Smile
06 - Cut
07 - Do You Know
08 - Hundred Times
09 - He Said, She Said
10 - Cross Your Mind
11 - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
12 - When I Was Howard Hughes


Media Report:
Genre: indie-pop
Country: Washington, D.C.
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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