With a name inspired by a Bruce Lee quote — “Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is specifically your own” — North Carolina’s Shun aptly refuses to be slotted into useless categories. Instead, this muscular quartet makes a massive sound that careens from Mastodon to Alice in Chains without sacrificing its own originality. Sometimes noisy, sometimes atmospheric, sometimes doomy and always heavy, this is garage rock circa 2021. Literally.
The thick rhythm section was recorded in lockdown in drummer Rob Elzey’s garage, while singer/guitarist Matt Whitehead laid down tracks with amps squeezed into his bedroom closet, and guitarist Scott Brandon — a Midwestern workhorse with music-related stints in Illinois and Michigan — recorded his parts in his basement studio. For added credibility, Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton shreds on “Heese,” and J. Robbins (Clutch, The Sword) produced all nine tracks. The result is both gritty and triumphant.
