Shadows are a common phenomenon, the result of a physical object blocking directional rays of light resulting in a diffused interpretation of the impeding body. A shadow’s presence is rationally explained and universally understood but over the course of history the effect has accumulated significant cultural baggage, representing the duality of being and the darker aspects of one’s persona. Detroit’s Shadow Show structure the thesis of their debut album, Silhouettes, around both embracing and identifying the contrasts of personality that exist when faced with the harsh light of reality.
Silhouette is ten tracks of springy surf inspired guitar coated with a layer of Detroit grittiness like the film grain in a Dashiell Hammett noir thriller. An energetic rhythm section throws twisting shapes around the room like a wildly swinging exposed incandescent bulb dangling from a cord in a seedy police interrogation room. Lyrical shadows morph and mutate, taking on new meanings in the constant pursuit of truth. The album isn’t psychedelic rock, but elements of the genre exist throughout, from otherworldly subject matter like the evasive nature of dreams on “Dreamhead” or the shimmering mystery of “Green Stone.” These touchpoints serve to elevate the elusive nature of the shadowy thesis by building on the themes of psych rock, but the sounds and shapes of The Motor City are the true stage for these tracks, framing the concept within the city’s long history of no-nonsense attitude.
Former Dirtbombs bassist and head honcho at Ghetto Recorders Jim Diamond is credited for lending the album a heaping helping of aggressive analog attitude, the same magic touch he bestowed upon The White Stripes’ first two albums, but it’s the city itself that gives Shadow Show their edge. “Shadow Box” has a riff that rolls in fits and starts like a heavily cammed V8 engine, flexing the same muscles as Iggy and The Stooges’ in the early 1970s. Tough girl posturing hangs in the air like cigarette smoke at a seedy downtown pool hall with the Detroit Cobras playing on the jukebox, or brass knuckles concealed in the velvet purse of a femme fatale sitting at the bar. Shadow Show are back to back 10-hour night shifts at the factory and they don’t have time for anything other than what’s real and authentic.
Authenticity and identity are at the core of each of the album’s narratives framed within the concept of the shadow. Like Peter Pan’s mischievous doppelgänger dodging and evading capture with a life of its own, or Harry Lime’s lurking menace cast larger than life across the ancient stones of postwar Vienna, Shadow Show uses the versatile concept of shadow to great impact when discussing everything from maintaining one’s identity when standing adjacent to a brilliant external personality on the bittersweet “Silhouette” to pulling back the curtain for a brief glimpse of truth for only the most trusted of companions on “Charade.”
But control of the darkness is critical. Unchecked, one’s shadow can quickly consume a person, reducing a vibrant uniqueness to a living shade of existence matching the movements and behaviors of reality in macabre fashion, existing only when exposed to light. Turn off that light and we lose ourselves, fully consumed by darkness and no different from the inanimate emptiness that exists beyond the reach of the living. But although Shadow Show inhabit the darkness willingly, they are strong advocates for the light, pushing earnestly in search of truth and honesty while recognizing that the shadow is an important counterpart to a live lived with vibrance.
Shadow Show will be bringing their shadow show on the road in support of Silhouettes’ release, available this Friday on Burger Records and via Bandcamp. Bring your darker half to Rough Trade when they play Brooklyn on April 4th and follow the band on Instagram as they tour the US and Europe in 2020.
