Born to soiled genes in ‘80s
Blackpool and loathed in soiled scenes of 2011’s London, Benjamin Shaw
first appeared in 2009 with the ‘I Got the Pox, the Pox is what I Got’
EP, a fuzzing buzzing 6 tracker full of lo-fi dissonance and homicidal
romance. The release went largely unnoticed but overtime picked up
support from BBC 6Music DJ Tom Ravenscroft and scored a slew of rave
reviews, with The Line Of Best Fit warning readers that “if you think
you’ve heard the likes of Benjamin Shaw before, think again.”
2011 brought his debut LP, "There's Always Hope, There's Always
Cabernet". Mixing the acoustic-base of his previous work with sounds
and arrangements somewhere between Odd Nosdam and a disturbed/inspired
Brian Wilson. The album even takes off into a world of unexpected
art-rock and accidental shoegaze.
Lyrically, his fantasies of “picturing your limbs in the freezer”
have evolved into warnings that we “shouldn’t blame it on the Tories,
even if they’re vile and you shouldn’t fill their lungs with water just
to make me smile.” He also claims that “I never wanted to stare into
the abyss…Celebrate, good times, come on!” before finally resolving to
just “fill my mouth with idiots and throw me in the lake” – Shaw is
perpetually between social commentary, believing his own hype,
collapsing, romancing and profusely apologising. His worldview is never
certain and his walk is never assured but they are both his own.
