3 out of 5

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Producer: Colin Stewart

This is another one of those discs that seems like it should be amazing from afar – a unique sound, tight instrumentation, great production highlighting the right moments – but for some reason it never quite gets off the ground for me until the final few tracks – ‘Lowlife’ and ‘Apple,’ namely.  It’s some balance of overkill and pacing, perhaps, though the band is mindful of quiet, letting several songs build to a miasma of circus beats and groovy horns.  Thankfully, the disc avoids slipping into the gypsy-music wompadoo niche of a Gogol Bordello – ‘They Shoot’ is definitely a band first and foremost, not an act or a sensation, and it’s a true standout at that, blending a punk rock aggressiveness and gang vocals with an almost marching band barrage of horns layered over indie pop compositions.  The mix is mostly perfect, letting the guitar strum somewhere in the middle to keep the beat and warming the keys and bass into the sound, saving the edges for that orchestration and the singing.  ‘Nut Brown’s trill delivery matches well, flitting into extremes when the tempo increases but knowing when to drop to moderate levels.  His lyrics are sort of wide open though, not at all annoying or obvious but not adamant enough to connect.  Which is that element about the music which keeps it from going beyond interesting to effective or moving, that there’s not really a sense of growth to any given track – they feel birthed whole, not requiring the listener to earn any particular moment.  This allows it to be a hell of a lot of fun, but it’s not until those tracks I mentioned that the group displays a little in-song push and pull to make the chorus worth it, and really sell the energy as a response to the contents and not just written in.

If your Cool meter is on alert, you might be tempted to pass on TSHDT for having a quirky sound, but take at least a listen.  It’s not a gimmick, and if you’re into it at all, I’d say your almost always guaranteed a head bob and toe tap while the record is spinning.  But, afterward, recollections of just heard rhythms or words might not spring immediately to mind…  Super talented, tons of fun… just ephemeral.