Shot Silk – October 08, 2011
| Stan Says: | Jodi Says: | |
| A mostly female band, except for the bass player, guitarist Hayley Lakeman and the singer, Katie Dunn, really are the two who front this band. Not to say that the bass player or the drummer are slouches or just background players, they rock also and are extremely creative at their craft. They’ve got a good sound, though the vocals kind of got lost in the mix at first. That’s a situation that got better and they can’t be faulted for it. Listening to them, I kept thinking that they should add a lead guitarist as it seemed at the time that Hayley wasn’t up to the task. Don’t get me wrong, she rocks on the guitar, it’s that the songs were missing something. Then, toward the end of their set I heard some solos and that made me confirm that yes, she does have the chops, it’s that the songs were missing solos. Katie was wearing a torn up Ramones shirt and so I thought that the shortness of the songs, the “get to it and get it done” style of them was a tribute to the Ramones, yet I found that their sound wasn’t anything really even remotely Ramones-like. They have very much a harder edge to their sound. The songwriting is very good. It is obvious that they can write songs. They just seem to need something more to them and that’s what I came away with. Strong on the rhythm, this is emphasized by the bass player who is, as I said creative. Playing chords on the bass and using harmonics to a wonderful musical effect that enhances the overall sound. Mentioning the bass, I should also mention that I did note that the drummer was powerful, as well as creative. Songs I found to be standouts were “Get Down” and “Crispy Lizard”, which both had great hooks and were just solid songs. Also, “You’re not welcome in my home” is another that stood out. Now, I may have the song titles wrong, I hope that if I do the members of Shot Silk will correct me. The thing is that this is a band that hasn’t been together long. This is known. It’s okay and I’m really happy I got to see them at this stage in their development. Starting out this fine, I can’t wait to hear how things go for them from here. My suggestion to them is that they work on the songs some more. They need something else and not just guitar solos either, maybe repeat the chorus. Each member should bring something to the band so each can be in the spotlight. Maybe have songs that feature one member more than others, a drum fill that is different or something. Spread your musical wings and rock out. I can say that the songs do work as they stand. It may have been an additional benefit of making me feel like there needed to be something more, so I listened more. It’s that I felt that the need for more was more from the songs, not just more from the band. Either that or I just love guitar solos too much, though I admit that not every song needs one, just a few would be good. And, as I said, Hayley did play some solos later in the show on a few songs. Maybe the lyrics need to be deeper, I’m not exactly sure, I’d have to hear the songs again. A great thing about this band is that they’ve already gotten the marketing idea down. The bass player, whose name I apologize for forgetting, has created unique shirts that they sold at the show with various renditions of the band’s name done as different logo styles. Great work using a simple process of bleach through an airbrush. It’s been noted that they’re going to record an EP of songs, I hope a few that I’ve mentioned will be on it, and I greatly look forward to hearing them again. One thing I haven’t mentioned much about is the vocal style of Katie. She’s got a strong and commanding voice and one that is perfect for their style of harder edge rock. She can belt it out and sweetly sing with the best of them. I hesitate to compare her singing to someone, yet I hear a rock version of Pink, and it wasn’t just her look either, though her look is awesome too. Shot Silk, whatever you do, keep doing it, just do more of it. You had a great show and I look forward to seeing you at your CD release party, if not before then. |
         
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This band consists of Katie Dunn on vocals, Hayley Lakeman on guitar, Elf on bass and Mindy Barker on drums.  I would say that these guys play with a rock sound to them.  They sounded a little like Audioslave to me (maybe with a bit of Tool mixed there). What is a little on the unique or different side with this band is that they are made up of three women and one guy.  The guy (Elf) is on bass. This night they played a full set and between sets joked around with the crowd. The crowd did seem in to them though it was a sparse crowd the entire night.  I admit, that I have trouble with female singers, not sure what it is, but unless the singer sounds a lot like Amy Lee or Ann and Nancy Wilson, the likelihood that I’ll truly enjoy a female lead singer (alone) is mediocre at best.  This being said, I didn’t really get much from the lead singer. Often times it seemed to me that she was a bit on her own doing her own yelling/singing thing while the guitar, bass and drums carried on with the song in wonderful harmony.  Also, most of their songs right now are just a few minutes long, but they don’t end abruptly and so this isn’t a bad thing at all, though of note there didn’t seem to be many guitar or bass solos.  Additionally, while I really enjoyed what Hayley was doing with the guitar in very lovely and well played rhythmic way along with the bass which makes for a very enjoyable song, many of the songs seemed to be fairly simple which did not seem to show her or his full talent.  With this in mind, it did seem to me that the band is missing a lead guitarist or someone/something to fill in a missing guitar role. My favorite part of their set was a song called “Crispy Lizard”.  It was very silly, and I enjoy songs that are meant to be funny or silly and tell a short story like this one.  All in all, they sound pretty good together, and I understand that they are going to the studio soon, so I look forward to comparing their studio album to this early stuff.  They are a new band that has only been together this year.  In their current arrangement I’m not overly crazy about their sound, but perhaps when they have time to refine things in the studio they will be a band that is more my style. |
By Hayley Lakeman on Oct 20, 2011
hey! thanks for the review live limelight! we appreciate the feedback. having only been together about 7 months, we know several songs should be added unto. the band had already discussed some solos to let each member shine individually. we get into the studio for the first time this weekend to record 4 songs- 2 of which stan mentions liking…’get down’ (which i have already written an additional solo part for), ‘murdershack’, the quirky ‘crispy lizard’ and our deepest, moodiest ‘currently haunted.’
(the other song stan mentioned and called ‘ your’e not welcome in my home’ is actually called ‘gentrification’- another moody one)
…SO- Shot Silk is in it’s early stage right now- we plan on growing and evolving our songs and staying passionate about our sounds- we’ve got this heavy slink, sultry and eerie but beautiful feel about our music- which will be boosted with some solo action and enabling the songs to carry more….also still learning the idiosyncrasies of playing out. we look forward to the whole process and not only what we get out of it- but what we can offer….thank you again, Live Limelight- will keep ya posted on the release of our EP and upcoming shows!
By Steve on Oct 21, 2011
Hayley, thank-you for the comment and great information. I know we will be looking forward to seeing Shot Silk again and definitely keep us in the loop about where and when you are releasing your EP!