★★★★★
The Lost At Sea offices are located in sunny Champaign, Illinois, home of Braid, Castor, HUM, the Poster Children, DMS, Absinthe Blind and, more importantly, REO Speedwagon. This sector of the corn belt became an even bigger hotbed of rock when Shiner decided to record their new album right down the road in Tolono (yes, Tolono). Of course the decision had a lot less to do with the fine town of Tolono than it did the fact that HUM's Matt Talbot has a new studio located there...
- www.lostatsea.net
2010-02-19
★★★★★
All the waiting Shiner has done since 1997's Lula Divina must have taken it's toll on them financially. This EP, which obviously has no point other than to have a "new" record out while they shop around to labels for their already recorded follow up, should tide them over for a while. Five songs, two from Splay and two from Lula (all live) coupled with a rather clever cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love...
- www.lostatsea.net
2010-02-19
★★★★★
Shiner are an odd, misfortunate bunch. They have been playing their fairly acclaimed shoe-gaze meets metal brand of post-glam rock for years and years. They have toured with everyone from Jawbox to Sunny Day Real Estate and are one of many siblings in the Midwest space/sludge rock family of HUM, Castor, C-Clamp, et cetera. They have always been media darlings, posturing (and touting looks) somewhere between dirty oil field workers and late night club goers...
- www.lostatsea.net
2010-02-19
★★★★★
Kansas City's Shiner fashions a bruising sonic game plan on Lula Divinia that begrudgingly resembles the electricity of Jawbox and the irresistible stranglehold of Fugazi. But unlike its somewhat stubborn predecessors, the band hasn't neglected to experiment with pop hooks, loopy time signatures or elements of cross-genre accessibility. The result is a fresh and purely satisfying record with the power to mutilate the wimpy posturings of "alternative" rock in a single bout...
- www.nudeasthenews.com
2009-07-28
★★★★★
It's hard to believe that Allen Epley is still at it. With three critically acclaimed but largely ignored releases on three different labels, a slew of roster changes, and a young wife at home, you would think that a full decade of stress, frustration, and aggravation would have gotten to him by now. And it probably has to some degree over the years, but through it all the proud Kansas City rocker has toiled and persevered, pressing onward and upward, with his musical lovechild, Shiner, in tow...
- www.adequacy.net
2009-07-21
★★★★★
I bought Shiner on the suggestion of many people who ranted and raved about how good this album was. But from the very first riffs of the very first song, I began to cringe. This sounds so mainstream, so typical, so usual that I almost didn't even get through the first listen. Powerful guitar riffs, powerful vocals, powerful rhythm. It's all about power, and it's been done by bands ranging from Soundgarden to Fuel...
- www.adequacy.net
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Hey, everybody-- it's summertime! Time for puppy dogs playing in the grass, sundresses billowing in the breeze and discreetly trying to air the sweat off your back when you enter your air-conditioned workplace. Oh, and did I mention the rock? You gotta have a soundtrack for your summer, and like Bob Seger, you gots to have some kind of music that just soothes your soul...
- pitchfork.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Shiner play no-frills, simple alternative rock, and they do it very well.
Their starting point contains definite strains of Seattle, but coming from
Kansas City the influence of middle America is strong. The album ranges
between mid-tempo rockers like "Spinning" and slower head-trips like "The
Arrangement," but everywhere things are arena-sized. The songs stay on the
heavier end of the scale but steer clear of anything metal. Together, they
comprise a decent, middle-of-the-road rock record...
- www.splendidezine.com
2008-10-28
★★★★★
Shiner's first full-length, released in 1995, showcases the Kansas City, MO, trio's brand of dissonant, brooding indie rock in an earlier, rawer incarnation. The emotive melodies that mark their later releases are still there, but they're buried beneath complex, math-y arrangements and thick-as-peanut-butter production. This, however, can hardly be considered a detriment; the band's immense prog rock chops guarantee the worth of the disc alone...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
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