Algiers — Shook — Album Review
Alternative | Rock | Soul | Jazz | Punk | Electronic | Hip-Hop
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
From the very moment I first listened to Algiers, through a selection of tracks from their sophomore album The Underside of Power, I knew that they had the potential to be renowned as a truly special band. With their influences mainly stemming from jazz and punk, Algiers are an incredibly explorative and experimental group. This showed with the uniqueness that seemed rife on the aforementioned second album.
That being said, I was very excited to see where the band would go next. We would get our answer in 2020 with their third album There Is No Year. While this album saw Algiers implement more stylistic elements (primarily regarding the electronic side of things), I ultimately found the album to be disappointing at the time. Listening back on that album, I think my criticism may have been a little more than what I would give the album now (in other words, at least it aged well). However, I still can’t deny that their heightened sense of experimentation does still feel quite rough around the edges, and poorly fused on that album.
Just after the summer of last year, I stumbled across algiers again, thanks to their track “Bite Back”. Admittedly, my initial reason for wanting to give that track a spin straight away would lie with the features on said track (which include both billy woods and Backxwash, two artists that absolutely smashed it last year). However, the sound that Algiers brought to the table felt far more impressive this time around, to the point where “Bite Back” became my favourite track of that month. On top of that, the track would be the first to tease something far greater, that being Algiers’ fourth album, Shook.
Somehow, someway, I hadn’t managed to catch the following teaser tracks for Shook (those including “Irreversible Damage”, “I Can’t Stand It!” and “73%”). However, I was incredibly excited to get straight into this project, in a week where many an anticipated album had been released), and I was aso excited to see what was in store with a relatively blank canvas of expectations.
If I had any expectations, however, they would’ve been absolutely shattered by how phenomenal this album is. On top of bringing a glorious combination of quality and uniqueness, every part of the project has at least a few things to remember them by, whether that be through sheerly awesome sound, playing a part in the album’s overall narrative, or a combination of the two.
I remember enjoying Genesis Owusu’s Smiling with No Teeth (my favourite album of 2021) for very similar reasons behind why I enjoyed Shook. Algiers have dispersed the many styles that influence their sound masterfully across a generous selection of tracks. There are tracks that have heightened levels of punk, heightened levels of soul, heightened levels of jazz, and so on.
All of these brilliant tracks are laid over a very thought-provoking narrative. It’s no secret that Algiers are very good when it comes to the narrative impact of their albums, but Shook is arguably the deepest in that regard. Focusing on the taboo surrounding negative emotions in the BIPOC community, and the dehumanisation that comes as a result, I was glued to every poetic word that Algiers had to say.
The narrative aspect is also where the electronic aspect of their sound really shines. With many glitchy and experimental sound effects throughout the record, it contrasts brilliantly with the hery human aspect of the lyrics.
It has certainly taken a while for 2023 as a musical year to truly kick off in my opinion, but my excitement for the year ahead has been ramped uo to 11 by this absolute masterpiece!
Favourite Tracks: Irreversible Damage | Bite Back | I Can’t Stand It! | Green Iris | Something Wrong
Matador Records
