We've got a real gem of a reissue LP here folks, Seattle post-glam band Shatterbox wasn't a name you heard in Northwest Punk history circles, yet in 1981, well after the original 70s glam rock wave had passed and a few solid years before it was in full bloom in its secondary West Coast phase. As with most scenes at the time, exploding with the hardcore sound and still stuck between trends, Shatterbox were too late for the party and too early at the same time. Fans of The Dogmatics will drool over "Dance Tonight" and any even casual fans of the power pop side of the Johnny Thunders/Heartbreakers pantheon will undoubtedly recoil with delight. But the Thunders comparisons really hit that perfect snot-pop vocal style without ANY real Thunders-style guitar moves, quite the accomplishment in an era when Thunders' style was being aped in wholesale numbers.
But Shatterbox really shouldn't be stuck in any confines based on their name and/or primary influence, as this is a great and massively understated rock'n roll document of that elusive time when tons of different influences and directions were coming into the blank slate of "punk" in all it's possibilities. Guitarist George Goheen and bassist Steve Brooks already played with a band called Goliath in the mid 70s, so this punkish power pop direction was a conscious evolution, both laying out the path 2nd wave glam would take in the next decade, as well as keeping a firm grip on the reality of 70s rock'n roll and all it's purity and power.
Despite the original self-released LP being an impossible-to-find artifact since its rediscovery, luckily for us, DIG! Records has reissued this classic slab with a super slick package and restored original artwork, making this a necessary nab for anyone with a penchant for 70s-80s obscure pop records. Demand it at your local record store, or grab a copy direct from the label right HERE.
STREAM the whole LP here:
