Shack - Time Machine: The Best of...

Shack may have been darlings of the music press for quite some time, but they have endured more ups and downs than your average rollercoaster in their twenty year history. Despite all the critical acclaim - along with the adoration of fellow Liverpudlians The Coral and the Zutons - commercial success has, by and large, eluded them; joining Noel Gallagher's Big Brother stable a few years ago hasn't done anything to reverse that trend. Such a shame, as Shack have made at least one classic album, 1999's HMS Fable, and four very decent ones. It comes as no surprise that they were Arthur Lee's backing band for a few years in the early 90s, as Love are an obvious inspiration for Shack's lolling psychedelic rock and mariachi roll. Nobody spins a gritty urban yarn quite like Mick Head, and anyone looking for proof of him being one of modern music's great songwriters should look no further than the forbidding journey through his old housing estate on the claustrophobic Streets of Kenny or the hypnotic soundscapes underpinning the dark tale of Shelley Brown. This Best Of should act as an ideal introduction for the uninitiated, just bizarre that there are so many of you out there. [Barry Jackson]