The self titled sophomore album from Welsh Alt Rockers Dead Shed Jokers is an intriguing one, and not just a run of the mill Rock album by any means. There are elements of numerous styles in here, with vocalist Hywel Davies guiding us through the bands winding road with an ease that also encompasses an air of the theatrical. The album itself is well balanced, different and shows off a lot of talent from a band that are not easily pigeonholed.

Tracks like the excellent opener ‘Dafydd’s Song‘, a rousing rocker with punchy riffs and a little bit of angst in the vocal delivery roll straight into a more indie slide of ‘Delay The Morning‘ where, as in other places on this album, I get reminded of The Enemy frontman Tom Clarke in their more rock like moments, and that’s certainly not a band thing, the ability to seamlessly switch, move and interpret rock standards in a different way is always something a little special, and these guys have that in bucket loads. The base for it all would seem to come out of 70’s Classic Rock, but not anything as simple as copying what’s already be delivered a thousand times before, even a track that has simple beginnings like ‘A Cautionary Tale‘ has the added edge of some haunting guitar work and the real sense that strands of a story are being spun into the microphone.

The stand out tracks here, alongside the opener, are the upbeat, funky and enigmatic ‘Rapture Riddles‘ which runs out in twenty different directions rather than circles, the slightly demented ‘Memoirs of Mr Bryant‘ which ends in a cacophony of madness, but it’s still a very interesting song, also ‘Made in Vietnam‘ with some really nice bass runs and an ebb and flow that lifts you up and dumps your right down again, there’s just some really good work right the way through, but it’s definitely an album that needs and deserves some perseverance and may take a few listens to settle in your mind.

This band are really tight throughout and the production suits the music really well, it’s not over polished and that’s just perfect. Dead Shed Jokers have managed to create a pretty original sounding album and one that’s definitely worth your attention, if you haven’t heard of them before go pick this one up and allow it to sink into your skin, once if soaks through it’s quite difficult not to be affected by it.