The Sheila Divine don't just wear their hearts on their
sleeves, they rip them out and show them off to the world.
Their passionate and hook-laden songs draw roundabout
comparisons to Radiohead, Sunny Day Real Estate, and
The Smiths with vocals that stand as a lavish combination of
Bono and Morrissey. The debut full lengther, New Parade, is
a sheen of raw emotion and emo pop riffing complemented
by soaring choruses that makes you believe that maybe
rock isn't dead after all.
The story all begins during the halcyon days of college at
Oneonta State University in upstate New York, where Aaron
Perrino, Jim Gilbert, and Shawn Sears all attended. Aaron
was singing and playing guitar in a band called The
Waverlys that Shawn was managing. Jim knew the pair of
them from seeing them play around and post-graduation all
three wound up in Boston. There The Waverlys disintegrated
and Aaron and Jim started a new band. Remembering that
Shawn had once picked up a pair of drumsticks when he
was twelve, Aaron insisted he start playing drums for them.
Using guerrilla tactics to get noticed, the trio slipped a demo
tape into the Cherrydisc Records stereo during their holiday
party. This lead to their introduction to Roadrunner Records
through A&R man and Cherrydisc proprietor, John Horton.
The band finalized their deal with Roadrunner in November of
'97.
They originally thought of naming themselves Sloan
Peterson after the infamously adorable love interest in Ferris
Bueller. However after some debate, the band chose The
Sheila Divine, a title they could all empathize with. Jim
explains "A 'sheila' is slang in Australia for guys that don't
play sports or act tough...I guess they're pussies. If you are
going to be a pussy, you might as well be the very best. And
there you have it, The Sheila Divine. Despite not going with
the Sloan Peterson moniker, Perrino remains obsessed with
the '80's and name-checks The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?"
as the song that defined the era.
In the fall of 1998, the trio released a eponymous five song
EP and hit the road for two long stints to try out all their
material and work on their live act. Playing gigs with the
likes of The Gigolo Aunts, Sloan, Sparklehorse and The
Figgs, the band tightened up their sound and fine tuned the
songs that would appear on New Parade. 1998 also saw
Boston coming awake to the genius under their noses. The
1998 Cat Town Awards gave the prize for 'Best New Band' to
The Sheila Divine while The Boston Globe raved
"Smashingly melodic, as hard and pretty a pop band as one
could hope to hear, [The Sheila Divine] testified that rock
can go bang beautifully."
New Parade features all of the songs from the EP either
re-recorded or remixed, giving the whole album a full,
sweeping sound. Opening with the taut melodicism of
"Automatic Buffalo," it careens from Perrino's lulling croon to
a raging chorus that stretches his voice to the limits. Then
there's the condemnation of those over-played
one-hit-wonders that rule the radiowaves called "Hum,"
where Perrino melodically rants "Well on the radio, a bunch
of fakes/Just shut them down/Hum along and regret it" and
later in the song sweetly confesses "When I get bored I
used Novocaine/To numb the sound." "Modern Log" begins
with a lush guitar riff, adds a subtle bass line and rolling
drums pushing Perrino's voice gently into the mix. The sleek
chorus brings the elements crashing together and the music
sweeps out of the speakers like a cathartic hurricane. The
dulcet crashes and calms of "Opportune Moment" epitomize
the beauty of The Sheila Divine's music. With its
self-doubting lyrics, the song stands as a testimony to the
underside of falling in love - an anthem for the heart-broken
everywhere.
The Sheila Divine are the real thing, so listen closely. New
Parade is a visceral slice of musical and emotional honestly
that will bring you to your knees - whether it's in prayer or in
tears is up to you
