The Shilohs

On one hand The Shiloh’s self titled album is absolutely enjoyable. The guitars are mesmerizing, the vocals smooth with great harmonies, and the music overall can be engaging or completely ignorable for when you’re cleaning up around the house or relaxing. Really no complaints about any of those things. 

 

On the other hand the music seems a bit cut and paste as far as the overall sound. It’s both impressive and a little meh with the band sounding like a conglomeration of inspirations from The Beach Boys to The Shins to The Beatles. From Motown and the 60’s movement with a hint of the 80’s. Not really a huge complaint as the band seems to be able to navigate on their own accord while simply borrowing from the above mentioned, but for me it’s a familiarity thing. Kind of like how a lot of people wrote off Oasis for obvious reasons. The comparison isn’t quite so large, but for some it will stand out. 

 

Overall though I quite enjoyed The Shiloh’s. Bass and guitar were real stand outs on the album. Guitar especially. I really liked how the guitar sound could be subtle, even a bit weak while still maintaining an melodic quality underscoring the drums and vocals. Bass was capable of supplying slow tempo groove rhythms or even supplying a funk-ish feel that allowed the music to take different forms. 

 

Lyrically I didn’t feel like the album was deep or groundbreaking. The lyrics were entertaining for what they were, but really nothing that would change anyone’s life the way say Bob Dylan or Roger Waters could. Fluffy, homage even to the sounds of the tracks, but ignorable if you just wanted to listen to the music. Still, an album worth hearing at least once.