Shirock does a lot, but not rock

People might be more important than flammable material possessions, but no one has pointed out… People might be more important than flammable material possessions, but no one has pointed out to band Shirock that people are flammable, too. Presumably, the band members themselves are flammable, which listeners might contemplate after listening to their debut album Everything Burns. The band pairs uninspired melodies with insipid lyrics, leading to predictably dismal results. The vocalists lack talent, ingenuity and sincerity, even though they take advantage of the opportunities for harmony afforded by having both a male and female singer. Certain tracks, particularly ‘Drag You Down’ and ‘Still Young,’ start with mesmerizing beats but collapse with a disappointing lack of energy. The length of what Shirock intends to be its magnum opus, the six-minute title track ‘Everything Burns,’ feels unnecessary given the repetitive, unexceptional rhythm and tedious lyrics like, ‘Everything burns up in the end. / It’s a long way to fall and it will break your heart. / Everything burns up in the end. / Would you leave it and be? / Believe it and see.’ ‘Everything Burns’ follows ‘Everything Burns Intro,’ a separate two-minute track consisting only of a voiceover expounding the same pompous and mundane philosophy explored throughout the album: ‘You can either love things and use people. / Or you can love people and use things. / I’ve made my choice.’ Several songs deviate from this mantra, but most deal with the same anti-materialism theme. Though there’s nothing wrong with the concept, it isn’t enthralling enough to carry an entire album and degenerates into existentialist angst. ‘ ‘I’ll Take Rain’ is a cloying ode to codependency, with lines like, ‘I’ll take love on the bad days / Over no love on the best days. / I’ll take you, love, on your worst days / Over me without you. / I’m no good without you.’ The same needy theme is seen again in the lyrics of ‘Calm Inside The Storm,’ ‘All I have is you. / When these waters rise again,’ and yet further tediously explored in ‘Silver,’ ‘mdash; ‘Tear my heart in two. / This world is nothing if I can’t have you.’ The band takes its name from the surname of siblings Chuck and Pap Shirock rather than any play on the name of their genre, which veers more toward progressive pop than rock. Shirock is rounded out by Adam Gatchel, Derek Blank and Jason Bynum Shirock poses an overall uninteresting sound, creating an album too reminiscent of listening to someone preach and whine for 45 minutes to make it enjoyable. The band doesen’t lack potential, with its several strong ‘mdash; if sputtering ‘mdash; guitar riffs and capable vocalists, but it fails to execute a listenable performance.