artist Shy Guevaras album We Owe You One genre SA Rock
It was an eye contact thing, eventually.
I mean, there’s naught wrong with the music, it’s just that, well, it
freaks me out when a big guy dressed in black points at me. I mean,
isn’t that, like, very ‘weirdo-in-the-park’? Shy Guevaras, everyone…
It’s the same old harp, though. One could say about anyone that it’s
important to get your crowd early, otherwise you get relegated to being
judged on just the music, instead of the show. So, what can we say
about Shy Guevaras and their loud, nostaligic brand of obviously Nirvana/Pearl Jam-laced grunge rock?
First off, that they were nothing like what I expected. Perhaps the
associations of the celebrated revolutionary have cluttered up my mind
to the extent that I’m expecting some bearded Cuban with a cigar in one
hand and a marketing spreadsheet in the other to blast onto the stage
and announce that they’re taking over the trademark and copy rights to
this particular name. Followed by a solo about hating yourself.
But, more importantly, what did ever happen to grunge, that “wildly popular form of inward-looking, serious-minded hard local rock“? We saw some of the banished genre’s bold resurfacing in the form of the 2003 Best Of Nirvana release, but I guess that doesn’t count.
Well, here’s your answer. On a bladdy cold day in the V&A
Waterfront, with vocals as raw as sushi and tattoos like a pirate, they
did their mothers proud with about 45 minutes of cookie-cutter grunge.
Sounds kinda like local act Spiral Bound or a toned-up version of what you may have heard at the Table Mountain Blues SummitShifty “Gareth” Guevara and the boys played the garage rock we’ve all come to know and love, and through it, hate ourselves. last year. Flailing about on the stage on a pair of Converse copies,
Acoustic guitar, guitar, drums and bass. Solo vocals. A pretty
staple line-up. A pretty staple bunch of guys. A pretty staple act, but
one that’s been growing on me with repeated video viewings. Lyrics are
cool. Just got an album out (We Owe You One). And guitarist Stuart “Randy” Scott has it, whatever ‘it’ is to you. If ‘it’ is lice, the guitarist has lice. Go, children! See for yourself!
