Here's what the critics have to say about Shadwell's Jacket...
Shadwell's Jacket, A band with quite an impressive and interesting persona. I love this stuff. It's funny, it's heavy, it's
original, unique and defies all classifications. All sorts of stuff from Korn (in A flat to spite) to Frank Zappa. Not too many bands could do a song like "Urine Boy" and
pull it off. Hell, you've got great music and intense lyrics, doesn't really matter what they say, but it does help, and they do a great job. This trio aims to please!
"I really liked this band's last release, "Knurd" for it's total weirdness but now they've gone digital and their new CD continues along that same path. They like their toys, like keyboards and effect. They also use a drum machine for all the songs on this 10 tracker. Anyone who'se familiar with my musical tase should know that I absolutely can not tolerate what the misinformed call "industrial" well S.J. seem to be influenced by this somewhat but not the ignorant repetitios styles that wear on my nerves so badly. They seem to know when the right time is for a distroted vocal line or keyboard section.There's plenty of killer guitar playing too. I love the odd rhythm patterns and not so common chords that Mike uses. They still remind me a lot of Voivod but these guys have created something all their own. Excellent musicians great songwriting and an all pro release, it can't get any better."
-Toad, Static 'Zine
"Shadwell's Jacket has the best press kit and band bio. According to them, they're all super geeks who masturbate
a lot and are afraid of girls. Cool.
I have a thing for industrial music. I like it a lot and I like it loud. I played Synaptic Park really loud and
I liked it a lot. Pretty neat the way that works huh? The music is dark with lots of freaky effects. Song titles
are...uh...a little twisted....but I prefer twisted cause it's more fun and I think Shadwell's Jacket is pretty
damn twisted - that's a compliment by the way.
Gary had a couple of problems with this CD, not the music itself (which he liked) but the production. He commented
that it needed a lot of work because it was way too boomy - said they need to tighten up the lower spectrum of
their sound in order to have a first rate CD. My response to this self-indulgent show of techno-babble was "huh???"
He went into an ugly and detailed explanation of sound flutters, mixing and 'boominess' which I promptly forgot
as soon as he stopped talking. I'm not technical or musically talented the way Gary is, I just know if I like something
and I did like the tunes on Synaptic Park. Obviously Gary did too because he carried on, "The music itself
is heavy and they've rounded it out nicely with a lot of different effects and programming. They're pretty tight
and they're good musicians. A few strange and very interesting guitar chords in there. I like what they're doing,
lot's of potential for some cool music. I'd like to see them live to get a better indication of their tunes cause
the production really needs a lot of work - it's all over the place." We both agreed that Multi Directional
Impact Generator was definitely a cool stand-out tune.
All in all, Synaptic Park really turned me on. I gave it another listen after I got home from Gary's for the review
work and it confirmed what I thought in the first place - this is a cool industrial band - who cares if they masturbate
a lot. I can look beyond that. If I had been at a Shadwell's Jacket show, I would have bought this CD with actual,
real money. I'm not going to listen to Gary's negative 'production' comments because he thought the music was pretty
fine aside from that. What the hell do sound engineers know anyway? Just a bunch of technical garbage, none of
them have girlfriends either........"
-Sal Colosimo, Raw-Indie-Rock
"Mike Bryant is a strange kind of guy. He's also the driving force behind the ultra-cool band known as Shadwell's
Jacket.
This slammin' band sounds like it's related to the industrial family, with some hints of metal, rock and a healthy dose of twisted humour, all blended together to create one intense disc that'll leave your head spinning.
With song titles such as "Urine Boy", "Eggshells and Hidden Pickles", "Smashed Glass Catheter" & "Toilet Logic", one has to wonder what inspires this twisted but likeable soul. I'm not even gonna try to guess. But, whatever it is, I hope it continues to inspire him because "Synaptic Park" is one hell of a musical treasure, a rare jem in an overdone field.
Joining Mike Bryant in his madness is Rob Emoff & Scott Fitches, Together, they have created a disc that hits you like a mack truck... you will be roadkill"
-The 1/2 Creeper
"From the 'Shweenians who brought you "Knurd" comes this latest album, a set of hors d'oevres that
could be a great primer for a main course of Gwar, Biohazard, or Danzig.
I'll admit I miss singer Bryant's techno sway and complete indie influence, but all bands have to grow to survive, and that sound was getting old. With the addition of (much) heavier bass, a more subtle keyboard and a drummer composed entirely of wires and chips, Shadwell's has created a nice niche that could be well sought after if refined.
Almost all of the songs on this album deal in one form or another with pee. I love it. Urine Boy, Smashed Glass Catheter, Toilet Logic. Even the instrumentals Multi Directional Impact Generator and Horizontal Rain, the best on the CD (including the hidden track) show some reference to B-movies or pee or something.
Buy this."
-Static (Oshawa)
"Very, very, very heavy. Always melodic and never stupid. Vocalist Mike Bryant seems to have attended the
school of Mike Patton and Jonathan Davis vocal styling. That controlled scream type of vocal is not as easy as
it sounds and Mr. Bryant pulls it off nicely. The riffs are driving and never slow down. The drums are provided
by a machine but really do not sopund as mechanical as say, Godflesh. Lyrics are often humorous and seem to dwell
a lot on bodily functions. One song in particular, "The Strange Case of the Evil Doctor Colono, M.D.,"
brings to mind the evil villains present in some of GWAR's music. Very funny, very heavy, very well produced."
-Galoob Online
Reviewed by : Boom - Verdict : 7/10
"Synaptic park" is a great album, loads of heavy guitars, "mr.bungle" like vocals and nice soundfx...the songs and the lyrics are quite cool, even the guitar solos are well done though some of them sound a bit 80`s..the really hateful thing is their drum machine..sometimes the cymbals sound really crap..but overall "synaptic park" is a pleasure to listen to...
Not quite as good as Prong, but better than a lot of the metal schlock I've seen in the past several years. This album is filled with lots of generic metal riffs, well-programmed drums and lyrics about body parts and functions. (Ironically, the hidden track was probably the best one on the CD.) Although nothing terribly new or interesting is being done here, I bet you'd enjoy it if you liked Sepultura, Bolt Thrower, Fear Factory, or any of a number of surprisingly similar death/speed metal bands.
-dea3pr, Demorama
Before the metallic industrial weirdness of Nanochrist Mike Bryant played in SJ. Don’t worry they are better than the name suggests, but only just. I hate giving self released product bad reviews, but apart from the Voi Vod chords and the odd heavy track like "Destructo Ray" and "Pop Will Spill Itself" this does nothing for me. It lacks the energy, quirkiness and hard edge of NC. Seek them out instead, they are damn good. [4]
-Ian,
Death to Dead Things
your roadie is:
melanie
what she heard:
a bunch of noisy guys, but creative noise at that.
your roadie has been informed that shadwell's jacket are a bunch of computer geeks that firmly take pride in the title. she also hears that they have a colourful background ranging from members jumping in the way of a rogue bullet intended for kevin costner to cloning taun-tauns (star wars enthusiasts will understand) for mid-winter strolls. much is to be desired with regards to the truthfulness of these stories, but they are amusing stories, nonetheless.
now, your roadie is also informed that shadwell's jacket are often compared to such musical heroes such as mr bungle, korn, rush and sepultura. these are valid comparisons in your roadie's book too; listen to just about any of the above mentioned artists and you will find similarities to the work of shadwell's jacket.
mike bryant is the founder of the band and the only original member in the numerous years since the birth of this creation. he has an uncanny ability to clone the sound of mike patton, with class and with a firm adherence to a code of especially moralistic artistic values. although morals go only as far as the honesty in their music. the morals of the members seem a little bent with songs relating to the unmentionable of bodily fluids. this is about as hard core as you will ever want to get, with stomach churning guitars and a bass line that thumps so hard you may need to take a violence restriction order out on the instrument. although this release will appeal to a limited audience, that audience will surely be grateful for the creation of shadwell's jacket.
-Melanie,
Bcscene E-Zine
From the Blue Yak
Mike Bryant's Nanochrist project was significantly more impressing than Shadwell's Jacket. Shadwell's Jacket has very good ideas, very good talent. But for some reason or another, the
music just doesn't sound very good. Perhaps it's simply that you're expecting something HEAVY, and when the guitar comes in the EQ is laced with mid frequencies and just isn't exactly
on the money. It's not really bad at all, just now what you'd expect in this kind of music.
Now I'm not calling Jacket a wannabe alternative band from Los Angeles, California who revels in lame overdrive and 3-chord songs. They're anything but that. But I am saying that the
level of intensity in their music just doesn't seem to quite be there. If I had to recommend anything, it would without a doubt be to beef up the guitars a tad, and maybe a lyrical overhaul.
Band-O-Rama Rating: 3
This is some weird sounding music! I hear a ton of different styles of music in this band. The music is a mixture of Rap, Punk, Metal, Hardcore, Industrial, &
noise. That's right, all of those styles mixed together. The vocals range from the above styles too! They claim that Sepultura,
Korn, Frank Zappa, Strapping Young Lad, Mr. Bungle & Negativland are just a few of their influences. Sounds weird huh? It is!
A strange mixture, but really cool listen!
-Burt Wolf, Satan's Candy Basket
After 8 years of lineup changes Shadwell's Jacket records their first full lenght cd. The ten tracks on this one, with names like 'Urine Boy', 'Toilet Logic' or 'The Adventures of Belzon Tert: Interstellar Warrior' talks for themself. Add lyrics to those names, put some heavy giutars there, some fuzzbox Manson vocals and a drum machine and you have Shadwell's Jacket. Don't know how serious I should take those guys but I kinda like it. An extra plus point for the lyrics. Keep on Rockin!!
-SMI