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Music

Premiere: Listen to Blind Shakes’ Side Project Shadow In The Cracks

Like drinking a cold beer while stranded at the world’s seediest roadside bar.

Photo by Jillian Schroeder

You’d think putting out three full-length albums, a documentary re-release and a 29-date tour would’ve kept Jim and Mike Blaha—best known as two-thirds of Minneapolis surf-garage-punk outfit The Blind Shake—plenty busy over the past year. And yet, here we are, with another raucous output from a pair of rock’s most prolific siblings.

The brothers Blaha are back with Shadow In The Cracks, a new side project that sounds like the devil’s work for their rarely idle hands. The self-titled debut, written in two months and recorded in two days during whatever slivers of free time they apparently had this summer, drops October 23 on Goner Records and plays like the psyched-out, sleep-deprived flipside to the melodic scuzz they’ve become known for.

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“It’s a reference to the darker parts of the dark,” Jim said of the band’s moniker. The album’s lead track “Timeless” proves that that darkness suits them well. The song is a twisted heap of distortion and reverb, tumbling forward at the behest of clanging bells and single kick drum hits. It manages to be both sinister and delightful, like drinking a cold beer while stranded at the world’s seediest roadside bar. Just be sure to play it loud.

Take a listen to the track and check out tour dates and album info below:

Shadow In The Cracks tracklist:
01 Timeless
02 800 Meters
03 Planting Flowers
04 Penguins Blood
05 Lonely Time
06 Elephant seal
07 When The Bubbles Stop
08 Shadow In The Cracks
09 Ships Roll In

SHADOW IN THE CRACKS ON TOUR:
9/26 GONERFEST 12 - Memphis, TN w/ Giorgio Murderer, Ultimate Painting, Salad Boys, Black Abba
10/10 Indeed Brewery - Minneapolis, MN
10/23 Turf Club - Minneapolis, MN
+ December residency at Grumpy's Bar every Saturday and winter tour to be announced soon.

BLIND SHAKE ON TOUR:
9/20 Willy St. Festival - Madison, WI
9/26 GONERFEST 12 - Memphis, TN w/ Quintron, Nobunny, Hank Wood & the Hammerheads, Ar-Kaics, First!
10/3 Moonlight Beerfest - Columbus, OH w/ Barreracudas, White Mystery

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