Shinyribs - Late Night TV Gold (2021)

Shinyribs defies genres as a sonic melting pot of Texas blues, New Orleans R&B funk, horn-driven Memphis soul, country twang, border music, big band swing, and roots-rock. The Austin-based nine-piece group is led by Kevin Russell, the charismatic frontman with colorful suits and extravagant shoes. Late Night TV Gold is filled with Caribbean organs, verbed-out distant delay vocals, chunky fatback guitars, dance hall horns, trip-trap, soul-tap, boldface bass, mellotron traced, late-night rhythms and more. Russell shares, “This record reminds me of the tortoise from the old story with the hare. It has this sort of stout, relentless march to it. It’s hopeful and resolute but pushing through resistance. I guess the world went from all hare to all tortoise so it’s less-than-surprising that you can feel the reflection of that in the songs. There is a lot of blur and shade and random splattered sinewy mop bucket melody. I like that it’s shaking hands with a lot of roots music that one doesn’t instantly associate with my voice.”