Track Listing

1. Whales Sing
2. Sleepless
3. Why & How Come
4. Maker Make
5. We Will Rise
6. Another World, Pt. 1
7. Another World, Pt. 2
8. I'm Alive
9. Sunburns
10. Host Your Day
11. Whirling Wind
12. Hold It Up
13. Summer's Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131510 in Music
• Released on: 2007-04-10
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
"Fans of The Walkmen and Broken Social Scene will love this band, which employs some of the same held-note meditations on melody and harmony ... Shaky Hands is the best rock band in Portland." -- WILLAMETTE WEEK

"There's this band called Shaky Hands ... I still haven't met those guys, so we have no affiliation, but I hope we will be affiliated soon, in the future. I think eventually we'll probably have to play a show together. They played a house show a couple months ago, and it was fucking awesome." -- Hutch Harris, The Thermals, Pitchfork

Holocene Music is beyond stoked to present the debut full-length from Portland jangly-pop wunderkinds the Shaky Hands. Sliding bouncy go-go beats under shambling guitars and reedy, swooning vocals, Shaky Hands make the kind of catchy, soulful indie rock tailor-made for brokedown car stereos and river-rat boomboxes. This debut album's thirteen tracks glow with a sloppily romantic warmth that's equal parts summer sunshine and candlelit mellow, pre-party buzz and scruffy day-after fuzziness. The result is a fully formed and confident debut; a big-hearted, starry-eyed bear hug of a record full of youthful energy and tumbling vigor.

Shaky Hands formed in Portland in Fall 2003. The group began as a three-piece, with Nick Delffs (Castanets) playing guitar and singing, Colin Anderson playing drums, and Paul Culp on bass. Following Culp's departure in 2004, Mayhaw Hoons and his hair joined the band, soon followed by second guitarist Jeff Lehman. In 2006 the band recorded this debut at Portland's Sidecar Studios before bringing on Nathan Delffs as an official member that spring. Now five strong, Shaky Hands is a visceral, life-affirming live experience that will totally make you hug the person standing next to you.

Customer Reviews

Not a bad song on the entire CD
Low key jangly pop/rock with a few well placed upbeat sections. I read another reviewer say that this reminded him of what an early 80's R.E.M. / Violent Femmes fusion might have sounded like. Only better because this exists and that never did.

CD arrived in package w/ CD ink on data side of disc
Unfortunately, the Holocene music label has produced and shipped out some damaged discs for The Shaky Hands.

My disc arrived w/ a black-ink spiral design on the front. This design was printed right to the very edge of the CD ...probably not the wisest design choice for a small indie operation, as the printer obviously put out too much ink in a 1" by 1/2" area along the edge of the disc. As a result, the design itself is visibly marred and, worst of all (by far), ink ended up on the other side of the disc -- where the audio data is stored and read. Or at least that's where it's supposed to be read. But small globs of black ink prevented any player or drive from getting through the first track.

Windex did not help to remove the ink. A great deal of scrubbing w/ dish soap and slightly-abrasive sponge did remove enough ink for the first song to be played on at least one player, ...but scratches resulting from the scrubbing led to other problems, with the player becoming hopelessly stuck a few songs into the disc.

Holocene produces very few CDs. But if I ever decide to purchase another CD w/ the Holocene label, I will purchase it in person, and open it immediately in front of the cashier to inspect it. I suggest you do the same ...at least with this disc.

I did not hear enough of the music to render much of a judgment. The jangly guitars reminded me a bit of early Meat Puppets, but less intricate. In fact, the first song -- which I worked so hard to hear -- seemed too simple, and not fully-fleshed out. But the third track I really enjoyed. The mood of the music, esp in that third track, also reminded me of the Flaming Lips. I hope to hear the rest of the album if/when I can get a new disc -- a new disc that's not damaged.