By: Michael Mut
The Shark Valley Sisters released the follow up to last year’s Shabbos at The Shack EP called Vera on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. The tracks are streaming and available for purchase through their Bandcamp page in a special name-your-own price promotion. Those who were lucky enough to plunk down a $7 payment earlier this year received a limited edition cross-shaped USB flash drive, which was delivered in March.
The collection of tracks lyrically deals with the life of a nun of the same name who is undergoing a crisis of faith. Recorded at Dan Hosker Studios by Frank “Rat Bastard” Falestra, the set opens with a very apropos cover of the Tom Waits tune “Way Down in the Hole.” Drummer Fausto Figueredo suggested the cut, as the duo are continually looking for interesting and inspiring cover tunes, and this one happened to fit the theme perfectly.
Stop the Presses’ Ali Culotta guests on a trinity of tunes, the first being the rock hymnal “Sister’s Lament,” where singer / guitarist Rob Elba and Culotta intone “Now I’m old, and I’m dead inside, There’s no place for that little girl left to hide.” Elba previously recorded Culotta during the production of the Rat Opera and realized that she would be perfect for this project. “She came in one night and sang all her parts without ever hearing the songs before. She’s a real pro,” said Elba.
The third track “Special Place,” could easily be the group of songs’ catchiest number, is reminiscent of early Radiohead, but still carries much of the power and punch that the SVS have come to be known for. The track also features some subtle synthesizer parts played by Figueredo, which are hauntingly counter balanced by a trademark Elba “Don’t you wish you could die?!” over-the-top howl in the middle.
“Wait Forever” is another fully-realized SVS, post-L.O.A.D. and Holy Terrors alt-rocker. Here the Vera character seems to have found an affirmation of her belief system. At 1:50, it is deliciously short and to the point, an exercise no-frills songwriting.
By the next track “The Grift,” Vera is back on the slippery slope of uncertainty. The 3/4 time, nuclear blast of a waltz comes off as a sort of Irish bar song, again short on heft, but long enough to deliver its message. Elba nicely harmonizes himself during the telling chorus: “Never again will I drink from his cup, Never again will I fall for his bluff, The gift is a con, and the grace is corrupt.”
The sixth and penultimate track (“Vera Inside / Inside Vera”) from the set is a menacing tune, layered with effected guitars and aggro vocal lines like “Selfless Handmaid, Bride of Christ, I’m pinned beneath his weight, Blinded by eternal light, My eyes, my eyes, can’t see the glory.” Culotta enters the mix again about three-quarters of the way through, bringing the song to a gentle climax where Vera implores the lord to “Kiss the girl that I once was, Let her blameless soul be free.” Another interesting cameo: Beatriz Monteavaro from locals Holly Hunt is the voice heard speaking Padre Nuestro at the beginning of the tune.
In song number seven (ironically, the holy number), “Castles,” the transformation of Vera is complete. Her faith totally exhausted, she realizes “I have waited my whole life to be delivered to his castle, Now I know I have been left behind.” The music behind this is like a dark, sonic apocalypse, a fitting end to a futile life of faith and servitude. Culotta appears again on this track, delivering the spoken word parts.
This release is a high-water mark for the band in terms of musical complexity and lyrical growth, and overall, in the evolution of the players as musicians. Elba sounds like he has broken out of his own straight Telecaster rhythm track work and moved toward using more ambient effects and voicings reminiscent of former bandmate Hosker’s work. Figueredo has proven to be if not an equal, a solid match to Elba when it comes to creativity and concept development. His drumming has never been better. Hell, he even broke out some keyboard parts.
Outside contributions from Culotta and the man behind Gold Dust Lounge Russell Mofsky, who contributed guitar parts to the project also set Vera apart from previous SVS works. Rob: “Fausto and I had planned on having him (Mofsky) play on just a couple of songs, but he’s so great he ended up on five songs and has become sort of an unofficial 3rd member of SVS.
“I definitely feel the spirit of Dan over my shoulder now whenever I make music, and it’s made me much more open to trying different things.” He also shared that listening to a lot of early Alice Cooper inspired a sense of the theatricality heard on Vera, and he’s been moved by the last few Fucked Up records, “Sentinels of the Space Age” by Jellyfish Brothers, and Haochi Waves’ latest effort “Peggy.”
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Catch the Shark Valley Sisters live at the Poorhouse (110 SW 3rd Ave, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33312) Saturday, May 9, 2015, beginning at 10 p.m. with special guests The Gold Dust Lounge and the Haochi Waves. A special ceremony honoring the late Jeff Tucci will take place, as will a fundraising raffle of the original painting of the Vera cover art by Gregory McLaughlin, with all proceeds benefiting the Thomas Fekete Medical Fund. For more info, click here.
Photo of the band by Mindy Hertzon.