New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "
Troublemaker" is the third video from Sharp/Shock's debut album, Unlearn Everything, released earlier this year on Alkaline Trio's label,
Heart &
Skull Records. It's a tale of forbidden love, clashing youth cultures, set against the band's sonic backdrop of teenage rebellion……... with a twist. "Troublemaker, troublemaker, the trouble I would make with you."
"It's Mods vs. Rockers,
Romeo &
Juliet with a wink and a nod to Kenneth Anger and Robert Mapplethorpe," explains director Scott Parker. "We picked the locks of Studio 606 and shot the video while the
Foo Fighters were off playing Glastonbury."
Sharp/Shock's sound is exactly what you might expect from two Brits, Davey Warsop (vocals/guitar) & Dan Smith and one San
Diego native, Korey Kingston (drums), who grew up on bands like The Jam and Stiff
Little Fingers and now are submersed in the California sun and the sounds of The
Descendents and early Green Day.
Davey might be known to some via his former bands Beat Union and Suedehead, while Dan has made a name for himself as a world-class tattoo artist (and through his regular appearances on the TV show LA Ink) as well as through his former band, The Dear and Departed.
The band has played shows with the likes of Descendents, TSOL, The Vandals, Tiger Army, Rise Against, Dreamcar, The Jesus and Mary Chain
and has appeared at Punk Rock Bowling and Revfest.
Catch Sharp/Shock live on the west coast supporting The
Interrupters & SWMRS:
10/13 Seattle , WA
10/14 Portland, OR
10/15 Boise, ID
10/16 Salt Lake City, UT
10/18 Las Vegas, NV
10/19 Mesa, AZ
10/21
Santa Barbara, CA
10/22
Santa Ana, CA
10/24 Fresno, CA
10/25 Sacramento, CA
10/26
Santa Cruz, CA
10/27 Los Angeles, CA
10/28 Berkeley, CA
10/29 San Diego, CA
About Sharp/Shock:
Have you ever heard the inarguable sound of what materializes when you let fate direct the future? What if that sound was influenced by twenty years of British and American punk cultures colliding?
For the members of Sharp/Shock, growing up with the bands that defined music with an honesty and passion that can be rarely found in modern times, cleared a very obvious path for what they wanted to do with their own lives. Sometimes in music, the storybook tale of determination, sacrifice, and despair can be thrown around hastily. To some, those three things describe a reality that very few can truly understand, and for the members of Sharp/ Shock, they are only a few attributes that make up their unique story.
Having all played in bands from a young age, the work ethic it takes to move your life around the world just isn't something that most people possess. Playing in garages to arenas and back again, sleeping on floors and in vans for the better part of the last fifteen years, they found their way to Southern California and were pushed only by that dream so many end up letting slip away.
Singer/Guitarist Davey Warsop (Beat Union, Suedehead) and bass player/vocals Dan Smith (The Dear & Departed) are UK exports. Smith by way of New Zealand and also widely known for his achievement in the tattoo world, they both moved to California in the early 2000's without knowing each other. Korey Kingston (The Aggrolites/Suedehead), a San Diegan drummer raised on a healthy diet of Reggae, Ska and a West Coast view on that same upbringing, would end up completing this trio perfectly. Despite their different geographical beginnings, they quickly realized they were all very much from the same place.
"The timing couldn't have been better," says Smith. "As the story goes, both myself and Korey reached out to Davey by way of text message, coincidentally within a minute of each other, suggesting we start something. We hadn't even met, so I think Davey saw that as some kind of synchronicity, perhaps too much of a coincidence for him to ignore. Then before we knew it, we were already in the studio recording".
It was only a matter of time before the hiatus they were all experiencing and this coincidence would essentially bring them together. Musically, it is exactly what you might expect kids schooled early on The Jam and Stiff
Little Fingers would sound like. Then, submerse that in the sun-drenched beach cities of Southern Californian surf, skate and punk culture and the sounds of The
Descendents or early
Green Day and you will find Sharp/Shock.
The way the band formed can only be described as organic and after some time away from playing and being rather disheartened with the machine of the music industry and not knowing where they fit in, they all agreed to take much more of a DIY approach this time. Warsop, having produced and engineered countless records over the years at Hurley studios shortly after moving to the US, was a key piece in the productivity of self-producing the debut album. "We tracked the majority of this record live, to keep the performances honest and fun. Like our name suggests, we're trying to keep everything about this band direct and to the point. From the songwriting being short and snappy, to us being a trio…we don't want to overcomplicate anything." says Warsop.
Sharp Shock had their first record under their belt within a very short amount of time and it would be no surprise if a second wasn't too far away. "This feels like it did when I was covering my favorite bands in my garage as a kid. We are doing only what we know…and doing it from the heart" says Smith.
Unlearn
Everything is out now via
Heart &
Skull Records.
https://sharpshockband.com/
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