Austin, TX’s new-wave punk outfit Sharks In The Deep End have announced their debut LP ‘Killin’ Machine,’ which is available April 22 via Kobalt’s AWAL Music Distribution. To celebrate the release the quintet is making the first single Shadows in the Sunset available for free download via Soundcloud below.
Mixed by GRAMMY nominated engineer Mark Needham (The Killers, Pete Yorn, Neon Trees), Killin’ Machine is a collection of POP art at its best, exploring notions of discovery, self-introspection and the passage of time. The music video for Shadows in the Sunset is set for release in mid-February and was shot by legendary creative and video director George Salisbury (The Flaming Lips).
Frontman Tucker Jameson describes the meaning behind the unique band moniker as he looks back upon his childhood fear of venturing beyond shallow waters while learning to swim. “I think maybe it was the pool floats casting their long shadows across the bottom of the pool that triggered these visions,” Jameson states. “Eventually, it became a bit of a child’s game.How far can you wade into the deep end? How long can you stay there before the sharks get you?”
Leaving behind their obligations in Texas, Sharks In The Deep End began the writing process holed up in a garage in Jameson’s home-state of Connecticut. For a month they worked alongside producer Dan Drohan (whose credits include Ang Low and indie darling Wilsen), to conceive the songs that would come to fill the binary code of their debut release. The songs were recorded at DeGraw Sound in Brooklyn before finishing up at Jim Eno’s Public Hi Fi in Austin. “This was an experimental and eye opening experience,” Jameson recalls, who counts David Bowie, Talking Heads, Sam Cooke, and The Smiths, among his primary influences. “The approach was wholly new to us and I think resulted in a sound deeper and more layered.”
“Most of the songs that make up the record, [Shadows in the Sunset] especially, attempt to deal with how the passage of time affects a relationship and this one poses the question of whether or not it should,” Jameson explains.“How much power should we give time to dictate our choices?”
The haunting memory from his childhood now has broader significance to the twentysomething singer-songwriter, who recollects staying in the shallow waters to avoid his biggest fears. “[Killin’ Machine] is the direct result of owning our fears and facing them head on.”
Track listing:
01. Love In Reverse
02. Shadows In The Sunset
03. Make It With Me
04. Cherry Blossom
05. Crash Test Doll
06. How Many Reasons
07. Killin’ Machine
08. Loveyoutoo
09. Your Heart Is Changing
For more information on Sharks In The Deep End, visit sharksinthedeepend.com.
