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Shining Through - Demo 06

Rating

RIYL

Weather Box
As Cities Burn
Pedro The Lion
Bright Eyes

Label

Salad Day

Tracklist

1. The Smoke and the Sounds
2. The White House
3. 34
4. Like a Siren to my Blood
5. When It Wasn’t Fun

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Have you ever listened to a band that you enjoyed very much but you had sort of a hard time describing their style while introducing them to someone? That is how I feel about Shining Through, who are a hardworking unsigned band from Los Angeles, California. It’s not so much that their music is hard to explain; it’s their incredibly different vocals that are odd at times and other times odd and beautiful. With this five-song demo, I was able to get a taste of what Shining Through is all about, and although it’s a small bite, I enjoyed it very much.

The demo opens up with “The Smoke and the Sounds,” which is by far the best track out of the five. It’s actually one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a long time. The first thing you will notice after the brief drum fill to begin the song is the unique vocals expressed by singer and guitarist James Clelland. The fact that they are so brilliant yet so raw at the same time sounds confusing, I’m sure, which brings me to what I was talking about with the hard to explain features of Shining Through. His voice has a mix of Conor Oberst with a tad of Cody Bonnette of As Cities Burn and the unique choppiness of the vibrato even reminds me a little bit of Brock Lindow of 36 Crazyfists, but not as perfected.

Besides displaying these great vocals, the musicality of the band is also very noticeable. The guitar work in songs like "The Smoke and the Sounds" and "34" will remind you of As Cities Burn type riffs overtop basic rock n’ roll. One of the standout moments on this demo is the final chorus in “34,” which follows the coolest guitar part on the demo. You can clearly tell this is the concluding chorus, as there is now back up harmonies along with James that weren’t apparent in the previous choruses in the song. The one thing that is missing in each song is a standout bassline. It seems that the main focus of the songs is just vocals, guitars, and drums, yet the bass is almost missing in action or is there, but doing nothing but keeping basic rhythm with the drums.

My best advice for anyone reading this is to give Shining Through a good listen. I believe they are a perfect mix of original rock music with their accessible song writing blended with a unique vocal style. With lots of hard work, shows played, and decent songs under their belt, I hope Shining Through sign some papers very shortly and find a good home. These guys deserve it with their fresh sound.

--Christopher Pandolfo