I’m not sure there’s much left to say about the self-titled debut from Shrinebuilder, the much-hyped supergroup featuring Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Wino, etc.), Dale Crover (Melvins) and Al Cisneros (Om). The first time I heard about the band was when I interviewed Kelly about the last Neurosis album. He said, “Yeah, I’m gonna be in a band with Wino and the dudes from Om” — at the time, Chris Hakius had yet to be replaced in Om by Emil Amos and in Shrinebuilder by Crover. My response was a stunned, “Dude.” Kelly said, “Yeah, I know,” and we had a good laugh.

That “dude” has pretty much been my feeling on Shrinebuilder the whole way through. Before it came out, it was more or less universally agreed that it was going to rule, and when Neurot put it out on Oct. 20, it ruled. Simple as that. One has to wonder what the second album will be like (because, as Cisneros confirmed in our interview, there will be a follow-up), since on these five songs it’s relatively easy to discern who wrote which part. You’d have to figure there will be a more solidified sound going forward, with the first album out of the way.

But that’s speculation for another time. For now, Shrinebuilder‘s Shrinebuilder proved a doom milestone in 2009. A dream lineup executing a collection of killer songs with poise and precision. To slather it with hyperbolic appreciation at this point seems excessive, but suffice it to say I’m really, really glad this record came out this year and it’s been a source of continued enjoyment since its release. I imagine I’ll be returning to it for some time to come.

Tags: Shrinebuilder, Top 10 of 2009

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 9:32 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.