'Shards' is another four-piece band from Merseyside, made up of Alex McKenzie on vocals and guitar, Paddy Gullidge on lead guitar, Dan Jones on bass guitar and Cain Garcia on drums. Alex and Dan were mates from school, sharing their musical interests together there. They first met Paddy through the internet in 2016, adding Cain to the band’s lineup in 2017. They have a particularly mesmerising dream-pop sound and their live performances effortlessly fill a room, all bright and beautifully jangling guitars! Alex McKenzie’s vocals are reminiscent of Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley, whilst their influences include 'Radiohead', 'The Smiths' and 'Mac DeMarco'.
Having released one studio song, 'Changes', their next release 'Reflections', re-recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool and mixed and mastered at Jacaranda Studios, Liverpool and Penny Lane Studios (Ojai), set the bar high for future releases. They are without a doubt one of the strongest additions to Liverpool's scene in a good while and 'Reflections' was released on Jacaranda Records on Friday, the 27th of September 2018. Launched 50 years after the release of The Beatles' 11th and final studio album 'Abbey Road', it was produced by a host of leading producers, including audio expert Greg Penny (Elton John, KD Lang Engineer/Producer), as well as renowned audio engineer Jon Withnall who worked on global chart blasting successes with 'Coldplay' and Rihanna, at the same iconic Liverpool venue that launched the original Fab 4's musical careers. Ray Mia of Jacaranda Records saw them play at a Showcase in their venue Phase One, the 300-capacity pop-up live music venue which opened in May 2018 and knew instantly that he and business partner Graham should sign them and work with them. There followed a flurry of national and local radio airtime together with a glut of notable gigs supporting the likes of 'Black Honey', Zuzu and Tim Burgess. Many believe this is very much the tip of their musical iceberg and that 'Shards' have a whole clutch of songs every bit as good if not better than 'Reflections'. They appear to be one of those rare breed of bands who have that instinctive knack.
2019 saw the band with a score of festival dates and high profile support slots logged, including Liverpool Sound City in the May. July had seen them supporting 'The Peach Fuzz' at the new Liverpool venue Jimmy's, with a second gig to be held at the Bold St. gig parlour, the venue run by the team who established the highly successful Manchester gig space/bar of the same name. The summer of 2019 also saw them sign a 10 year contract with Jacaranda records. With the band's soaring debut single, 'Reflections', scoring airtime on BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing, they looked to repeat the feat with the excellent follow up 'My Birthday' which was released by Jacaranda Records in November 2019. Their second single for Jacaranda, '2020 (I want to go home)', was released in October 2020 and is a slice of classic indie. The guitars chime, jangle and soar all at once, as the soft melody floats over the top wrapping it all up in a modern slant of lush indie dream pop, setting out their stall well and whetting the appetite for more. The accompanying video was filmed across Merseyside bringing together footage of them in locations in Liverpool and Wirral, with scenes from their live shows, with the fuzzy film stock evocative of the clip being shot on a old school camcorder.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/11/pool-of-sound-difference.html
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