Waterpistol (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Waterpistol
Type = studio
Artist = Shack


Released = 1995
Recorded = 1991
Genre = Britpop
Label = Marina
Producer = Chris Allison
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:difoxqy0ldse link]
Last album = "Zilch"
(1988)
This album = "Waterpistol"
(1995)
Next album = "HMS Fable"
(1999)

"Waterpistol" is the second studio album by the English rock band Shack.

Background

In 1990, Michael Head told "NME" that Shack's second album would be less serious than its first, 1988's "Zilch". Head stated his influences at the time were The Stone Roses, Flowered Up and The Charlatans. He also stated:

The stuff I'm working on now is far more humorous. .... The new LP's gonna have better stories on it. It's a great challenge to put a story into a three-minute pop song. It'll still be very melodic, though, but with a more straight guitary vibe than before. It's gonna be a great album when it's finished.

Recording

Music and lyrics

Release

Reception

Allmusic contributor Stewart Mason wrote "Waterpistol" is one of those rare "lost" albums that's actually as good or better than the hype suggests. This may actually be better than the more lauded "H.M.S. Fable"."Mason, Stewart. " [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:difoxqy0ldse Waterpistol [1995] > Overview] ". Allmusic. Retrieved on 24 January 2008.] A review by Jesse Fahnestock of "Ink Blot Magazine" was highly positive, describing the album as "a special record, one of those lifestyle albums you wonder how you ever lived without." Fahnestock continued: "It's a melancholy record, but not a depressing one: Mick Head writes with such honesty and sensitivity, even his bleakest lyrical settings warm the lonely heart." He praised the songs "Dragonfly" and "Sgt. Major" for nailing the "effortless jangling groove" of "The Stone Roses", and hailed "Undecided" and "London Town" as "two of the best ballads ever written, and reminders why the acoustic guitar was invented." [Fahnestock, Jesse. " [http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/Shack_Waterpistol.htm Shack: "Waterpistol"] ". "Ink Blot Magazine". Retrieved on 28 November 2008.]

Track listing

#"Sgt. Major"
#"Neighbours"
#"Dragonfly"
#"Walter's Song"
#"Mood of the Morning"
#"Hazy"
#"Time Machine"
#"Undecided"
#"London Town"
#"Mr. Appointment"

;2007 reissue
#"Sgt. Major" – 4:51
#"Neighbours" – 4:02
#"Stranger" – 5:24
#"Dragonfly" – 3:28
#"Mood of the Morning" – 3:49
#"Walter's Song" – 3:17
#"Time Machine" – 4:53
#"Mr. Appointment" – 5:31
#"Undecided" – 3:52
#"Hazy" – 4:06
#"Hey Mama" – 4:48
#"London Town" – 3:57

References