To All Trains

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To All Trains
A black-and-white photo of a train station
Studio album by
Shellac
ReleasedMay 17, 2024 (2024-05-17)
Recorded
  • November 5–6, 2017
  • October 18–21, 2019
  • September 1–6, 2021
  • March 2–3, 2022
Studio
post punk[2]
Length28:13
LanguageEnglish
LabelTouch and Go
Producershellac
Shellac chronology
The End of Radio
(2019) 		To All Trains
(2024)

"It's marketing, which is maybe my most hated thing on earth. Like, fascism is up there, but marketing is right behind, you know?"

—Shellac guitarist Steve Albini on the decision to not send out promotional copies of any of their records to press outlets[3]

To All Trains is the sixth studio album by American rock band Shellac, released by Touch and Go Records on May 17, 2024.[4] It is the first original studio effort by the band in a decade and is the final recording made before band member Steve Albini's death days prior to the album's release. The recording was made around the band's touring over the course of several years and was not promoted with advance copies, specific tour dates, or singles.[5] The release coincided with Shellac's music being available on several streaming services for the first time in years.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Louder Sound
[10]
Louder Than War5/5[11]
Mojo[12]
Pitchfork8.1/10[13]
The Scotsman[14]
SpinB+[15]
Sputnikmusic4.2/5[16]

To All Trains received largely positive reviews. According to the review aggregator

Clash Music, Cal Cashin described the album as “beat-em-up mutant rock” that “showcases a rock band who get every single thing about being a rock band absolutely correct”.[8] In Kerrang!, Olly Thomas hailed the release as "a masterclass in delivering musical precision with an undercarriage of scuzz and tension".[9]

Paul Brannigan at

Louder Sound characterized it as "as thrillingly intense, darkly amusing and pleasingly unsentimental as expected" with emotions that are "grinding [and] typically unsentimental" as well as silly, describing the music as a whole as "never less than compelling throughout, never less than a bleakly beautiful good time".[10] At Louder Than War, John Robb awarded the album a perfect score and called it "another peep into the tight world of the band and another celebration of their minimalistic genius" that "sounds as thrilling and fresh as anything they have ever done".[11] Editors at Pitchfork included this among a shortlist of the eight best albums of the week, calling it a "record of righteous, riotous noise",[18] with critic Christopher R. Weingarten writing later on that it "naturally walks the same path and, had circumstances permitted, would likely have been appreciated simply as little more than Shellac’s sixth excellent record".[13]

Online retailer Qobuz spotlighted this release and Jeff Laughlin called it "classic Shellac" with songs that "epitomizes Shellac’s unique style" that invite "reflection on our collective folly".[19] In Rolling Stone, Kory Grow called these songs a mixture of Albini’s sarcasm and biting noise rock “with its snarling lyrics and crisp sound” that serves as an appropriate final statement.[20] In a mixed review, Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman called it Albini's "musical epitaph and testament to his tight partnership with bassist Bob Weston and mighty drummer Todd Trainer".[14]

In a May 31 roundup of the best albums of the year, editors at

Consequence of Sound included this among the best albums of May, with Jonah Krueger writing that it "serves as a masterful, shockingly fitting project for Shellac, even down to the foreboding, black and white album cover"[22] and a June 4 overview of the best albums of the year so far ranked it 17, where he called it "an idiosyncratic, irreverent, beautiful final offering from Albini and company".[23] The same day, Stereogum did the same and ranked this album 20 and Tom Breihan characterized the release as "a document of a great American rock band, 30 years into its career, making the kind of spiky, scabrous post-punk that they always did better than anyone else".[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Steve Albini, Todd Trainer, and Bob Weston.

  1. "WSOD" – 2:24
  2. "Girl From Outside" – 2:46
  3. "Chick New Wave" – 2:22
  4. "Tattoos" – 3:08
  5. "Wednesday" – 3:18
  6. "Scrappers" – 2:21
  7. "Days Are Dogs" – 1:42
  8. "How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & bull)" – 4:09
  9. "Scabby the Rat" – 1:46
  10. "I Don’t Fear Hell" – 4:18

Personnel

Shellac

  • mastering
    at Chicago Mastering Service
  • Todd Trainer – drums
  • Bob Weston – bass guitar, vocals, mastering, photography

Additional personnel

  • David Babbitt – sleeve design
  • Matthew Barnhart – tape op
  • Greg Norman – tape op
  • Ungiedem Zaneta Ogar – live sound mixing
  • Jon San Paolo – tape op
  • Gregoire Yeche – tape op

Charts

Chart performance for To All Trains
Chart (2024) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 44
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 84

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Deming, Mark (n.d.). "To All Trains – Shellac". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (June 4, 2024). "The 50 Best Albums Of 2024 So Far". Stereogum. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  3. ISSN 1207-6600
    . Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  4. Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast
    . Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  5. Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast
    . Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  6. ^ Pearis, Bill (May 17, 2024). "Steve Albini's bands Shellac and Big Black return to Spotify & other streaming services". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "TO ALL TRAINS by Shellac". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ^
    Clash Music
    . Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  9. ^
    ISSN 0262-6624
    . Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  10. ^
    Louder Sound
    . Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Robb, John (May 18, 2024). "Shellac 'To All Trains' album review". Album Reviews. Louder Than War. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  12. ISSN 1351-0193
    . Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  13. ^
    Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast
    . Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  14. ^
    OCLC 614655655
    . Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  15. ISSN 0886-3032
    . Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  16. ^ K., Simon (May 17, 2024). "Review: Shellac – To All Trains". Reviews. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  17. BoingBoing
    . Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  18. Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast
    . Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  19. ^ Laughlin, Jeff (May 17, 2024). "Shellac – To All Trains". Qobuz Magazine. Qobuz. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  20. OCLC 969027590
    . Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  21. ISSN 1207-6600
    . Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  22. Consequence of Sound
    . Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  23. Consequence of Sound
    . Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  24. GfK Entertainment Charts
    . Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  25. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Shellac – To All Trains". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2024.

External links

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