The Shelters kick off their self-titled debut with Rebel Heart, and within just a few minutes, it’s obvious who they’re biggest inspirations are. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and any other 60s guitar pop band clearly dominate their stereos. Even the production is completely vintage — not to mention the album art.
The story goes that Tom Petty first saw The Shelters in a club and took a liking to them, showing them to his home studio and letting them mess around with things and showing them what he thought they could be. Viewed through the lens of a “guitar pop record that Tom Petty would encourage somebody to make,” The Shelters’ debut makes a lot of sense.
And it’s not to say that the band’s style eliminates the possibility of them working on original material. Songs like Birdwatching, Surely Burn, and Down deviate from the script, taking some influence from 70s punk and the grunge scene.
I’m quite partial to Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl, which feels like an old-time blues track combined with an oddball White Stripes moment. The tracks like that on this record are obsessively fun.
What makes the whole album work, more than some people might suggest when they call it a throwback, is the way they bring together an obvious reverence for the past with a modern sense of groove and motion, giving the sound an update for the modern era without alienation fans of that old-style rock and roll.
The Shelters won’t be loved by everybody, but it feels like a band that many of us can at least appreciate. For a debut, it’s impressive. And although it doesn’t play with too many new ideas, it makes me believe that The Shelters have a few — and I’m excited to hear them sometime down the line.