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To All Trains

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To All Trains
A black-and-white photo of a train station
Studio album by
Shellac
ReleasedMay 17, 2024 (2024-05-17)
Recorded
  • November 5–6, 2017
  • October 18–21, 2019
  • September 1–6, 2021
  • March 2–3, 2022
StudioElectrical Audio, Chicago, Illinois, US
Genre
Length28:13
LabelTouch and Go
ProducerShellac
Shellac chronology
The End of Radio
(2019) 		To All Trains
(2024)

"It's marketing, which is maybe my most hated thing on earth. Like, fascism is up there, but marketing is right behind, you know?"

—Shellac guitarist Steve Albini on the decision to not send out promotional copies of any of their records to press outlets[3]

To All Trains is the sixth and final studio album by American rock band Shellac, released by Touch and Go Records on May 17, 2024.[4] It is the first original studio effort by the band in a decade and is the final recording made before band member Steve Albini's death days prior to the album's release. The recording was made around the band's touring over the course of several years and was not promoted with advance copies, specific tour dates, or singles.[5] The release coincided with Shellac's music being available on several streaming services for the first time in years.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Clash Music9/10[8]
Kerrang!4/5[9]
Louder Sound[10]
Louder Than War5/5[11]
Mojo[12]
Pitchfork8.1/10[13]
The Scotsman[14]
SpinB+[15]
Sputnikmusic4.2/5[16]

To All Trains received largely positive reviews. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, To All Trains received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 from 7 critic scores.[7] Writing for AllMusic, critic Mark Deming stated that "it's practically impossible to listen to the music without hearing it through the filter of grief, which is odd, since this is music that sounds muscular, vital, and very much alive" and the band is "a lean, mean math rock machine... [with] concision of the songs [that] makes this a breathless, energetic listening experience".[1] Lux Sparks-Pescovitz of BoingBoing recommended this album to anyone, including those unfamiliar with Albini's previous work and favorably compared this album to blues rock, The Raconteurs, and David Bowie's final studio album Blackstar.[17] At Clash Music, Cal Cashin described the album as "beat-em-up mutant rock" that "showcases a rock band who get every single thing about being a rock band absolutely correct".[8] In Kerrang!, Olly Thomas hailed the release as "a masterclass in delivering musical precision with an undercarriage of scuzz and tension".[9]

Paul Brannigan at Louder Sound characterized it as "as thrillingly intense, darkly amusing and pleasingly unsentimental as expected" with emotions that are "grinding [and] typically unsentimental" as well as silly, describing the music as a whole as "never less than compelling throughout, never less than a bleakly beautiful good time".[10] At Louder Than War, John Robb awarded the album a perfect score and called it "another peep into the tight world of the band and another celebration of their minimalistic genius" that "sounds as thrilling and fresh as anything they have ever done".[11] Editors at Pitchfork included this among a shortlist of the eight best albums of the week, calling it a "record of righteous, riotous noise",[18] with critic Christopher R. Weingarten writing later on that it "naturally walks the same path and, had circumstances permitted, would likely have been appreciated simply as little more than Shellac's sixth excellent record".[13]

Writing for PopMatters, Seth Troyer rated this album a 7 out of 10 and used the review to give an overview of Shellac and Steve Albini's career, noting that "it can be hard not to indulge in the creepy feeling that the person who has been telling you these ghost stories was himself a ghost the whole time" and stating that it "feels like a group showing up, punching in, doing the good work, getting the job done, and then punching out for a night at the bar".[19] Online retailer Qobuz spotlighted this release and Jeff Laughlin called it "classic Shellac" with songs that "epitomizes Shellac's unique style" that invite "reflection on our collective folly".[20] In Rolling Stone, Kory Grow called these songs a mixture of Albini's sarcasm and biting noise rock "with its snarling lyrics and crisp sound" that serves as an appropriate final statement.[21] In a mixed review, Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman called it Albini's "musical epitaph and testament to his tight partnership with bassist Bob Weston and mighty drummer Todd Trainer".[14]

In a May 31 roundup of the best albums of the year, editors at Exclaim! ranked this 25 stating that this might be Shellac's best release.[22] Staff at Consequence of Sound included this among the best albums of May, with Jonah Krueger writing that it "serves as a masterful, shockingly fitting project for Shellac, even down to the foreboding, black and white album cover"[23] and a June 4 overview of the best albums of the year so far ranked it 17, where he called it "an idiosyncratic, irreverent, beautiful final offering from Albini and company".[24] The same day, Stereogum did the same and ranked this album 20 and Tom Breihan characterized the release as "a document of a great American rock band, 30 years into its career, making the kind of spiky, scabrous post-punk that they always did better than anyone else".[2] Online retailer Qobuz chose this as one of the five best rock albums of May.[25]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Steve Albini, Todd Trainer, and Bob Weston.

  1. "WSOD" – 2:24
  2. "Girl From Outside" – 2:46
  3. "Chick New Wave" – 2:22
  4. "Tattoos" – 3:08
  5. "Wednesday" – 3:18
  6. "Scrappers" – 2:21
  7. "Days Are Dogs" – 1:42
  8. "How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & bull)" – 4:09
  9. "Scabby the Rat" – 1:46
  10. "I Don't Fear Hell" – 4:18

Personnel

Shellac

Additional personnel

  • David Babbitt – sleeve design
  • Matthew Barnhart – tape op
  • Greg Norman – tape op
  • Ungiedem Zaneta Ogar – live sound mixing
  • Jon San Paolo – tape op
  • Gregoire Yeche – tape op

Charts

Chart performance for To All Trains
Chart (2024) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 44
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 84

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Deming, Mark (n.d.). "To All Trains – Shellac". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (June 4, 2024). "The 50 Best Albums Of 2024 So Far". Stereogum. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Khana, Vish (May 17, 2024). "Steve Albini on Shellac's New Album, His Love of Music and His Hatred of Promoting It". Exclaim!. ISSN 1207-6600. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  4. ^ Strauss, Matthew (March 20, 2024). "Shellac Announce First New Album in a Decade". News. Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  5. ^ Currin, Grayson Haver (May 9, 2024). "Steve Albini Did the Work". Afterword. Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  6. ^ Pearis, Bill (May 17, 2024). "Steve Albini's bands Shellac and Big Black return to Spotify & other streaming services". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "TO ALL TRAINS by Shellac". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Cashin, Cal (May 20, 2024). "Shellac – To All Trains". Reviews. Clash Music. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Thomas, Olly (May 23, 2024). "Album review: Shellac – To All Trains". Reviews. Kerrang!. ISSN 0262-6624. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Brannigan, Paul (May 17, 2024). ""The most bittersweet listening experience of the year cuts close to the bone." Shellac's To All Trains is Steve Albini's epitaph, and it's as thrillingly intense, darkly amusing and pleasingly unsentimental as expected". Reviews > Louder. Louder Sound. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Robb, John (May 18, 2024). "Shellac 'To All Trains' album review". Album Reviews. Louder Than War. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Currin, Grayson Haver (May 21, 2024). "Shellac To All Trains Review: Steve Albini's noiseniks bow out on powerful form". Articles | New Music. Mojo. ISSN 1351-0193. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Weingarten, Christopher R. (May 21, 2024). "Shellac: To All Trains Album Review". Albums. Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Shepherd, Fiona (May 24, 2024). "Album reviews: Lenny Kravitz | Paul Weller | Shellac | Bee Asha". What's On. The Scotsman. ISSN 0307-5850. OCLC 614655655. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  15. ^ Cummings, Raymond (May 28, 2024). "Shellac's 'To All Trains' Is a Rousing Requiem for Steve Albini". Spin. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  16. ^ K., Simon (May 17, 2024). "Review: Shellac – To All Trains". Reviews. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  17. ^ Sparks-Pescovitz, Lux (May 17, 2024). "Steve Albini's incendiary final album with Shellac is his Bowie"Blackstar"". BoingBoing. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  18. ^ Monroe, Jazz; Strauss, Matthew (May 17, 2024). "8 New Albums You Should Listen to Now: Billie Eilish, Crumb, Shellac, and More". News. Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  19. ^ Troyer, Seth (June 18, 2024). "Steve Albini's Black Swan Song: Shellac's 'To All Trains'". Reviews. PopMatters. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  20. ^ Laughlin, Jeff (May 17, 2024). "Shellac – To All Trains". Qobuz Magazine. Qobuz. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  21. ^ Grow, Kory (May 20, 2024). "Shellac's 'To All Trains' Perfectly Balances Steve Albini's Sarcasm With Biting Noise Rock". Music > Album Reviews. Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 969027590. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  22. ^ "Exclaim!'s 25 Best Albums of 2024 So Far". Exclaim!. May 31, 2024. ISSN 1207-6600. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  23. ^ Jonah, Krueger (May 31, 2024). "Best Albums of May 2024: Staff Picks". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  24. ^ Krueger, Jonah (June 4, 2024). "The 30 Best Albums So Far". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  25. ^ Hong, Sujan; Laughlin, Jeff; Viraporn, Nitha (June 5, 2024). "Best Albums of May 2024: Staff Picks". Qobuz. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  26. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Shellac – To All Trains" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  27. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Shellac – To All Trains". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
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