The 1981 Listening Post - Shatterbox - Strung Out on the Line

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 Shatterbox Strung Out On The Line Genre: Punk / Power Pop Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Per the liner notes on Bandcamp: “Strung Out On The Line” was “recorded in their Seattle basement… and self-released… on New Year’s Day 1981 in an unknown – or, at least now forgotten – quantity, and an array of handmade album art designs: stencil and spray paint; paste-on Xerox cutout; and bare-white factory sleeves.” “Newly restored and re-mastered by David Eck from the original quarter-inch reels, ‘Strung Out on the Line’ is an unlikely album for rediscovery, given its diamond in the rough mystique – the precious few remaining copies fetch hundreds in collector circles.” The folks rereleasing this album talk a good game. I’m sure “Strung Out On the Line” is of interest to Seattle rock historians, but coming to this without the hype I have a hard time buying in. The band is actually quite good, whether they are sounding like early 70s Stones on the title track, hard driving blues rock on “Leaving Blues”, or the poppier 60s rock of “Brand New Girl.” The songs aren’t memorable, however, and the recording is terrible – no amount of mastering will fix it. (A mastering engineer friend would call this “turd-polishing.”) Meanwhile the vocals are simply cloying – nasal, whiny and amateurish, like Gordon Gano without a hint of charm. Shatterbox had apparently recorded a 7” in a proper studio by this point, but displeased with the sound they moved the production to their basement and recorded this album. Sometimes this impulse leads to great results, but this is not one of those cases. I’d actually wager that the studio recording exposed how shitty their vocals sounded, and rather than fire the vocalist they fired the studio and released this crap recording instead. Other production choices seem misguided as well. Though the rerelease writeup on Bandcamp lauds them for “sidestepping the musical trends touted by their Hardcore Punk and New Wave peers”, there are a couple cuts here with so much flanger on the guitar you might be forgiven for assuming they were on a bill with Siouxsie or the Cure. Thankfully this only affects a couple of the tracks, but for such a rootsy band it doesn’t fit. I’ll add a second wager that the guitarist had recently bought a flanger on a whim and simply felt compelled to use it. On the positive side, the band is on, and I bet these folks were really good live. You can listen to this album and try to imagine being there for Shatterbox in the flesh. Or you can leave that to the historians and choose from thousands of better rock albums.