- 1000 Hurts - Probemusic (www.probemusic.co.uk)

Shellac, however good on record, are better live. All the violence and the energy trapped on their recorded output is released as all three band members jab and thunder, making exceptional noises, pausing only to rant about Canada and watches and to share illuminating 'Question and Answer' sessions with the audience. Like everything else they've released, 1000 Hurts is brutal, uncompromising and gritty as hell. There's the added benefit of some pretty nifty packaging - the LP comes in the kind of hefty box normally used for storing quarter inch reel to reel tapes and includes a cd copy of the album. To get the full Shellac experience though, you really need to see them live.

Listening to Shellac, whether at a live show or in the privacy of your own lounge, has never been a relaxing experience. They are to the American alternative 80s and 90s guitar scene what Cliff Richard is to sunny day lolly licking pop - an ugly reminder of former glories when they both coasted near the top of their respective trees. Neither Cliff nor Shellac bow to such concepts as 'shelf-life,' and whilst Cliff ploughs a pretty furrow and churns out a soul sapping Christmas single every couple of years, Shellac knock their own brand of nastiness for the initiated.

The similarities end right there. Over the years, Steve Albini has plied his trade as a 'producer' for more seminal bands than you'd want to throw your hat at. He also seems to have built his own guitar amp, which makes his guitar sound like an exceptionally nasty attack of conjunctivitis. The latest album kicks off on a ferocious note and ends on a ferocious note. Along the way, there's no small amount of ferocity.

Those familiar with the sound won't find anything particularly different on 1000 Hurts from what's gone before. The guitar stabs, the bass rumbles and chugs at various top speeds and the drums keep a ferocious, lunging rhythm. It's all pared down and lean. In the mixed down vocals, there's plenty of snarling and swearing. All business as usual, except everything sounds unrehearsed. Kind of made up on the spot, which is not necessarily a bad thing, except that every now and again you wonder if things are going to slip into 'new metal.' Unless you're a Shellac maniac, 1000 Hurts isn't the kind of record you can play again and again. Shellac songs never make a habit of not popping into your head, even if there are titles like Squirrel Song, Shoe Song and Watch Song.

This is probably as Steve planned it, but it does make for rather limited entertainment. That is, of course, unless you go see them live. Buy the record by all means - but if you're in any way unsure, let the live gig do the persuading.