Review Summary: A solid, if unspectacular debut from the definitive Britpop also-rans.
The Britpop era in the U.k was a musical battleground. One one side stood the laddish, party happy tendancies of Oasis, Blur, Supergrass... etc. On the other side you had the more emotive acts that still held The Smiths close to their hearts such as Suede, Pulp and Gene. These sides waged war on each other, with the 'laddish' camp gaining the better foothold.
But rooted in the no-mans-land directly between the two was Shed Seven. The Smiths' aping jangle riffs were all over the place, as were some very Smithsian lyricism and occassional gender play. But also present was the loathsome self-appreciation of Oasis, and continual references to drugs, partying and loose woman. But the mixture served the band well, and in their peak the band did indeed garner fans from both factions, giving them a slew of hit singles and high charting albums.
Shed Seven's 1994 debut album 'Change Giver' surfed in on a wave of hype, stirred up by the likes of NME and Melody Maker. The band were mooted to be the next Suede, with singer Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks seen as able replacements for the recently departed combination of Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler (the founding members of the original Suede)... But whilst the comparison was an easy one, it wasn't acurate.
Paul Banks, for example, is a very different guitarist from Bernard Butler, falling on the more melodic, jangle side of the fence, compared to the twisted, distorto-riffage of Suede. That said, Paul Banks is a master of his craft and, in my opinion, was one of the greatest and most underated guitarists to come out of the Britpop era. Rick Witter, on the other hand, is no Brett Anderson. Something of a witless wonder, Witter sings his every line with guileless sincerity. There's little word play to be found here, only a slightly confusing juxtoposition of Morrissey-esque emoting and wide-boy swagger.
I know that seems a bit unfair, because when Witter is on top form he does create excellent lyrics... But he's also guilty of creating clumsy examples too. The biggest faults on this album come from his lyrical mis-steps, which are all based around an annoying and constant sense of self-promotion. Take opener 'Dirty Soul' for example. Over swaggering thug rock guitars, Witter spins a tale of how great it is to be... him ("There's no one else I'D rather be!"). It makes me roll my eyes every time I hear it. The same can be said for 'Casino Girl', whose delicious funk rock riff is nearly ruined by Witter's repeated cry of "The world revolves around ME!"... Or the fantastic sounding indie jangle stomp of 'Head And Hands' which features the insanely annoying chorus of "You're the greatest thing I ever saw / And I'm the greatest thing ever born." Good lord. What a cock.
But there are a lot of times when everything comes together, and Witter shows nearly as much talent as the band that backs him. 'Missing Out' is an excellent, rare self-depricating effort, with Witter near-sighing "I'm gonna miss / I'm gonna miss tomorrow" over an aching, picked Banks guitar riff. 'Long Time Dead', meanwhile, brings crunching distortion into the mix, with the rousing chorus of "You're a long time dead / So I'll forget thet you said / If I can't have you / No body can have you" sung with the type of hand-on-the-heart passion that only a clumsy oaf like Rick Witter could deliver.
The album highlights are also trancendent of the band's occasional faults. 'Dolphin' is a full on Britpop classic, as it's stop-start, funk inbued riff combines with an amazing bongo performance and huge madchester-acid beats to create an immediate indie-disco party starter. The band's debut single, 'Mark', is also excellent, taking Johnny Marr-esque guitars and throwing in Witter's catchy chorus of "Lover, I want to swap you for another / And another / We could make / We'll make great lovers" to make for a wonderful sing-your-lungs-out kareoke moment.
In the end, 'Change Giver' is a very solid debut. It has a bunch of great songs (add the the pristine guitar stomp of 'Speak Easy' and the huge ballad 'Ocean Pie' to that list), a couple of musically fantastic, but lyrically infuriating tunes (any track that sees Witter bigging himself up) and a few pleasent-yet-autopilot indie tracks... It's mostly good, but not quite great, which is a statement that pretty much sums up Shed Seven's career as a whole.
