Shimmer Bed Divine cassette

An eclectic mix of punk, garage, and psych rock that culminates into an album that is rather difficult to pin down. Something about the off-kilter, pseudo-melodic approach reminds me of Hate Your Friends-era LEMONHEADS, but more loose and fuzzy. Curiously, SHIMMER BED shares a member with GREEN JELLŸ, the “comedy rock” band best known for their 1992 fairytale adaptation “Three Little Pigs.” How this informs their sound is not for me to say, but there is a level of proficiency at play that signals that these guys have been at this music thing for a while. Divine was recorded live in the studio, and that lends the album an energetic quality that suits the general delivery. A bit raw, a bit sloppy, but intentionally so from what I can tell. Stylistically, this seems rooted in a bygone era, blurring the line between punk and alternative rock. If in description that sounds utterly terrible, in practice it’s not so bad…but also not so good. SHIMMER BED is based in Los Angeles, and that makes more sense to me than anything else about this band. Inoffensive, milquetoast L.A. rock, featuring someone that made a name for themselves in the ’90s. Guess I pinned it down after all.

• Reviewer Matt Casteel
• Label Remove
• Issue MRR #483 • August 2023