feature photo: Courtney Chappell
One half of the math-rock duo the Ahleuchatistas, Shane Parish has of late found a nice niche as a free-form folk guitarist who thrives on taking older music forms like country blues and make them sound avant-garde. But he might not have ever reached back farther in music history than he does for Liverpool. Here, he has put together covers of old sea shanties dating back to the earlier part of the 19th century.
There’s been some renewed interest in the old sea shanties of late and a lot of the contemporary ones that I’ve heard sounds very, well, contemporary. Parish has his own twist on the genre but it has little to do with updating it. Yes, there is some electric guitar and electronic accoutrements in his mix, but it’s all organically conceived and carried out. And casting these singing work songs as instrumentals while still maintaining the songs’ resonance is where Parish applies his ingenuity.
The formula for that is actually straightforward: Parish modeled his renditions after only the vocal component of these songs, which is how these shanties were originally performed out on the sea, anyway. By transferring only the sung character of the shanties into his instruments, Parish is able to keep the spirit intact even while completely transforming the source material.
“Liuerpul” drives home that point starting with a good ol’ electric guitar feedback shower, but it quickly parts, leaving in its wake a rock rhythm section with a shimmering guitar lead lines that trace the lyrical cadence of a sea shanty; it’s an old idea cannily recycled into a new one.
Parish was moved by Anna and Elizabeth’s stirring version of the over-lost-at-sea ballad “Black Eyed Susan,” so he covered it himself. He retains the song’s haunting quality, even illuminates it, with intricate layering that includes sparse but effective percussion.
For “Banks of Newfoundland,” Parish uses one guitar to provide an ominous pulse and the other one “sing” with a sorrowful tone and there are instances on every track of him finding different ways to recast the sound of the lyrics.
Parish uses looping for the compelling riff he constructed for “Haul Away Joe,” building up ferocity by easing in more effects. He deploys a similar strategy for “Santy Anno,” leaving his lonely lead line pure against the distorted, pulsating backdrop. The drawn-out “Rio Grande” is like a soundtrack for the calming effect of a sail ship cruising serenely out on the open seas.
For anyone who’s had their fill of the sea shanty craze, don’t quit it until you’ve had a chance to hear Shane Parish’s evocative take on these nautical songs. You don’t even have to like sea shanties to really enjoy Liverpool.
Liverpool goes out March 4, 2022 from Dear Life Records. It’s available now on Bandcamp.
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