Just two short years after their critically-acclaimed debut album, Kick It, propelled the band through the ranks of the New York City indie rock scene, THE SHAKE is back with Well, Oh Well, the mature, older brother to The Shake’s 2006’s freshman effort.
Mixed and Engineered by Al Perrotta (The Misfits, Herbie Hancock, Tony Bennett), the CD showcases the talents of these four young artists who have brought their individual varied musical influences to the mix, creating something entirely their own. Though they are completely self-managed, THE SHAKE has already been featured in a major motion picture, shared the stage with internationally acclaimed acts such as the Mooney Suzuki and the Living End, and played some of NYC's most prestigious rock venues. All this while each member of the band spends his days as a full-time college student.

Jon Merkin and Eliad Shapiro, former high school band mates, formed THE SHAKE in the summer of 2005. “The first few times we sat down, we churned out a lot of songs,” explains Merkin. Shapiro recalls, “We were impressed with how well we meshed together. We really compliment each other nicely in terms of writing melodies, chords and lyrics and the first few times we played together, there was a real energy.” In their search for a bassist, Merkin and Shapiro recruited Stein, who Merkin met while traveling abroad during his summer before starting college.
Late in recording their new album, the Shake’s drummer opted to leave, forcing the band to find a replacement. In their search, they came upon Vishal Kumar, a fellow student at Columbia University. A seasoned session drummer and performer, Kumar has played with bands such as The Doves at Madison Square Garden, recorded for dozens of artists, and also acquired a level of fame for his DJ'ing work. He has created beats and has had his drumming sampled for producers such as Bad Boys, and has supported world famous DJ's at the mecca of electronic music clubs, London's Ministry of Sound. When he heard the Well, Oh Well demos, he saw a great opportunity. “I heard their new stuff and was way into it. Jon, Eliad, and Jeremy are all talented songwriters that I enjoy writing and performing with,” says Kumar. Although he only got to play on one tune for the record, “He’s professional and phenomenal,” says Stein. “Vish jumped right in and fit the bill perfectly. He gets us and we get him.”
Unlike other groups, each member of THE SHAKE is schooled in a different style of music, and draws from a wide pool of influences including rock, blues, jazz, and punk. The result is what they call “a constantly evolving, more musically diverse style of rock that utilizes distinct melodies and harmonies in order to maintain a straightforward and familiar feel that still sounds fresh.
For the new album, the band chose to take a different approach to their songwriting. “On the last album, we chose to just throw down whatever lyrics came to mind for the song. This time, we decided to take a bit more time with them. The songs themselves are very upbeat and exciting but have lyrics that are more mature, which we thought was an interesting contrast,” Merkin says. Shapiro agrees. “Many of the lyrics focus on telling the stories of tragic characters that we felt would resonate with the listener.”
Stein attributes the Well, Oh Well’s sound to the fact that the band members are now more comfortable playing with one another. “There was room to show off our musical identities a little bit more and everyone got a chance to shine a bit,” he says. “You get more of an eclectic feel with this album.”
“It’s really exciting to have an album out with new songs to define us by,” says Merkin. Reflecting on the band’s past, Shapiro adds, “I don’t think any of us thought that we would write the quality of songs that we have. We thought we were just going to be one of those typical college bands that plays the bars - we’ve risen above that.”
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Just two short years after their critically-acclaimed debut album, Kick It, propelled the band through the ranks of the New York City indie rock scene, THE SHAKE is back with Well, Oh Well, the mature, older brother to The Shake’s 2006’s freshman effort.
Mixed and Engineered by Al Perrotta (The Misfits, Herbie Hancock, Tony Bennett), the CD showcases the talents of these four young artists who have brought their individual varied musical influences to the mix, creating something entirely th... (read more)