Shihad - BeautifulMachine

Mon 26th May, 2008 in Music Reviews

Poor old Shihad. They’ve had to change their name to crack the U.S. market (does – œShihad’ really evoke – œJihad’? Come on!) and suffered significant fan abandonment in the process. But Pacifier or not, these Kiwis are responsible for some of the best modern rock tracks of the past ten years.

Their latest effort, Beautiful Machine offers up standard Shihad fare – heavy, grungy cuts and heart-on-the-sleeve ballads. This begs the question: “Has anything really changed?” In short, no. But then, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Bands these days have some obsession with redefining the formula that made them successful in the first place. Shihad don’t even bother, they just keep doing what they do and do it well.

Sure, a lot of the tracks could be easily interchanged with ones off previous record Love Is The New Hate. And John Toogood still writes lyrics like an alt-rock Trent Reznor, spitting out words like “charade”, “lies” and “waste” as well as glorious phrases such as “tear your world apart.” Putting this aside, this is an undoubtedly stellar album. It won’t break any boundaries or surprise devotees. It will, however, provide you with the perfect soundtrack to adolescent angst. Hell, we all know how fun that is…