Shade - Forever Now, Nowhere Tomorrow
by John Johnson

From the opening landscape of feedback into the subtle dreams of shade's synergy, there is a place that is created beyond the sonic boundaries from which so many local artists turn their backs to.  Shade extends their musicianship and songwriting into a world of order and beautiful chaos from the lush pools of guitar and vocal ambience between frontman Matthew Stuart and Guitarist Dave Woods on the opening track “Hurricane” of their debut full-length record “Forever Now, Nowhere Tomorrow”.  The extraordinary element of this incredible band is the fact that every artist in Shade has a few moments of glory throughout the record.  Bassist Brad Keifer shines on track four “Smile” with his heavily influenced British melodies.  Keyboardist Craig Stuart soars into the opening verse of “Dream Happy” with an orchestral string-synth melody and a brilliant piano forte in “Marooned”.  Everyone is brought together and cohesively bound by the raw and unrefined power of drummer Dave Halloran in every song on the record.  Shade draws upon the darkened lights of Shoegaze artists My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Lush.  Other parts of the album dive into Sonic Youth and some early Pavement.  This Pittsburgh Rock n Roll outfit definitely competes with modern artists such as Interpol and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.  These guys rank in my top five favorite bands that I am currently listening to.  “Forever Now, Nowhere Tomorrow” is an appropriate title for Shade’s full-length debut album, as long as the present and the future remain as one.   

Tracklist:
1. Hurricane
2. Chemicals & Criminals
3. Automatic
4. Smile
5. Mellow
6. Dream Happy
7. Marooned
8. Spider Rock
9. Breathless
10. Freedom Fighter
11. On My Way

CD GRADE: