Shit and Shine

The UK’s long tradition of punk collectives seems to have gotten a new century update with this hydra-headed crew of hipster Neanderthals. Shit and Shine are no simple crusties though. With more drummers than good sense, about $42 worth of smashed electronics and a stack of bass amplifiers Al-Qaeda couldn’t knock over, they create gonad-shattering happenings wherever they go. This limited edition CD/DVD reissue fills in part of the brown-hued picture. The CD starts out misleadingly, with clean beats and a spoken word bit about sidewalk run-ins, before making with the debilitating crunch. The truncated pieces only hint at the band’s full force though, sounding a little more like Boredoms cast-offs or Prurient feedback greeting cards. The DVD is the real shiny shit though. Recorded in 2007 by Last FM in London, a nine-piece (five drummers, four keyboards/mics) version of the band jam out a 30-plus-minute, gut-rattling trance. Describe a monster truck show then excise the vowels — that’s what I’d say about it.