The Manic Shine

"Sounds great!"
- James Theaker - NME

"I REALLY like The Manic Shine!"
- Nick Mason (drummer, Pink Floyd)

“We like that song, Burn Me On The Ceiling, very much!”
- Tom Robinson, BBC Introducing

"Jaw dropping...You must listen to this band, they are amazing."
- The Mag.com

"The Manic Shine are some musical geniuses...It’s not every day that you come across such a fantastic new band. 5/5"
- Alternative Vision

"Undeniably impressive. A blindsider through and through! 8/10"
- Bring The Noise

"It is no surprise that their music sounds so good...They are blazing a new path"
- Altsounds

“…'Pretend' builds to a heavy crescendo of noise, they certainly know their way around a power rock riff when they hear one!”
- Amazingradio.co.uk

"Driving basslines from these slick and shiny pop-rock headliners"
- Time Out

"The big guys on the scene should be peering over their shoulders; The Manic Shine are coming!"
- Muso's Guide

"Simply irresistible…With material as strong as this, Blindsider will make people sit up and take notice! 4/5" - Entertainment Focus.com

"Timeless...impressively soaring choruses and some clever electro noises, while the slightly off-kilter guitar work gives a real edge to proceedings..."
- A Short Fanzine About Rocking

"Tighter than a government cut...Addictive...The Manic Shine hit pretty hard"
- AMP Jam

"The powerful riffs and up tempo beat ensure that you’ll be listening to their new EP on repeat from the off" - London Music Blog
- NME, BBC, Pink Floyd and many more...

On a different review for this site I recently let slip my soft spot for Reef – those animated west country folk who lit up the late nineties with their memorable tunes that made no secret of their admiration for Zeppelin, Hendrix et al yet still managed to sound contemporary. I’ve also made no secret of the fact that I long for the day upon which I discover a new bunch of retro Somerset tunesmiths inspiring enough to pick up where Reef left off. Well hailing from the big smoke makes The Manic Shine ineligible to meet the full criteria although they are cut from the same misty mountain cloth, and with these three tracks have managed to win me over and make their music welcome to drift through my mind whenever it is at a loose end.

Opener ‘The Puppeteer’ is of a sprightly beat and showcases a guitarist who is nimble of finger yet knows the value of atmospherics. In fact the guitar is allowed to dominate the mix to an extent that threatened to drown out the vocals at times, although this is a minor gripe on what is undeniably a top tune. Plenty of ingredients are added to this particular casserole – an additional layer of guitar hammer-ons, a cascading bassline and a pinch of Hammond organ combine to leave a most wholesome taste in the mouth. What’s more, the track ends with the old cacophony of clattering drums, repeated guitar chords and tremolo bass before a final concluding note. We don’t hear this often enough nowadays. ‘Biding Your Time’ is built around a Hendrix groove but at one stage segues into a passage with what sounds like a lost Johnny Marr riff, then takes a left turning into borderline prog territory before coming full circle. The Manic Shine appear to have a reasonably diverse music taste and aren’t afraid to let any particular section of it in. This is often a winning attitude for a band. Witness the Chemical Brothers, who make music for the club yet allow psychedelia and indie influences to wear their colours proudly, which is surely what has made them such a huge draw for the festival crowd.

‘Ode to the Underdog’ comes into view with a shuffling riff and throbbing eighties bassline and begins with the line “Hello, liquid courage.” No prizes for guessing what this one is about but lyrically I’d say this is the strongest track. “Freedom is the name of the game and I’m losing badly,” was a line that resonated particularly. It brings to mind the paradox that many of us are no doubt faced with, which is that when working full time there is not much of a window for the things that we really want to be doing, yet without work there is little money to help us in doing these things.

Life is full of paradoxes but I wouldn’t say ‘Blue Tones for Old Bones’ is. A range of influences combine and there is a definite mixture of past and present going on, but each track flows naturally and effortlessly and so everything just seems right. Hopefully The Manic Shine will equally appeal to a wide audience – if they keep on knocking out tunes as enticing as these then they deserve it. - Dave Urwin

This quartet’s first release, a 5-track mini-album of blues-heavy rock, showcases the talents of all of its four songwriters and their ability to gel together to find a song’s groove. It doesn’t take long to find out exactly how effective they are. The first few seconds of the first track, “Burn Me On The Ceiling”, are an infections blues-guitar-and-harmonica combo worthy of a motorcycle epic through a California desert a la Easy Rider…and it just goes on from there to create that sort of bluesy atmosphere that will be the mainstay of the rest of the album.

The tracks progress, and with each song the atmosphere becomes more definable. This is blues rock, it screams of the 60s Chuck Berry and 70s Rolling Stones, and is a great representation of British-American atmospheric fusion so simply written and yet so deep that it immediately draws your attention to the little details. The song writing is impeccable and is designed to create a groove that captures your neck before hitting you with a melody or a chorus that, while could be considered predictable in some opinions, is still so perfectly gelled with the rest of the concoction that it demands respect.

The Manic Shine have a groove. There’s no two ways about it. I expect very interesting and exciting things from this band, and considering the production of this album came at a time when the original drummer was replaced by one who had to learn the tracks in full in less than three weeks before recording started, I’m very impressed at the level of professionalism to be found here. Ozzie and his band are a rare breed in today’s underground music scenes: the one that has a vision that won’t be easily strayed from, a sound that will grab you time and time again, and a depth to the music and lyrics that will maintain audience attention for as long as possible. All of this would mean nothing if the individual instrumentalists weren’t in perfect symbiosis with their instrument, and if they didn’t take their music seriously. If this is a taste of things to come at a more focused and congruent time for the band, then hurry up and bring out a full-length album already!

4 out of 5
- Zaid Adham