The Manic Shine’s seemingly effortless amalgamation of deep guitars, enveloping progressive drums and anthemic vocals will appeal to fans of everything from Counting Crows (check the sky-rocketing melodies) to A Perfect Circle (enjoy the balance of hard-edged rock instrumentation with an embedded pop sensibility that won’t be denied). “Pretend” hits the ears almost immediately with its sing-a-long chorus and slight electronic elements, which battle with supreme modern-rock musicianship.
The delightful thing about The Manic Shine (and the tracks from their forthcoming Blindsider album) is that there’s no frills, nor pretense. It’s just pure unadulterated passion for all things rock ‘n’ roll. This passion and strength is perfectly embodied in “My Woman (I Love Nothing About You)”; this is the dirty type of blues-rock that’ll get your spine tingling like a classic Zeppelin track, or something by Black Stone Cherry… if you want to bring it forward a little bit. There’s also a bit of Jeff Buckley in the dark jangle of ‘Til Your Pockets Glow” as well. It’s all powerful stuff from this London-based quartet.
