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(c) 2011 The Shell Corporation
Rating: 
The Shell Corporation, to be confused with the Shell Corporation is what comes up when you google the band and see the link to the group’s website. A lot of times bands won’t have an accurate picture of what they really sound like, but this time I think they hit the proverbial nail on the head. I may not have said that after the first listen. After initially hearing Force Majeure (the group’s new album), I was really looking for a frame of reference and someone to compare them to. I had been listening to Holding Onto Sound’s The Tempest EP recently and I heard (imagined) so much of them in the Shell Corporation that I had to check to see if any members of the band happened to be in both groups (the answer is no). Like I said the comparisons were imagined and the only song that I could even hear what I thought I had was on “Ozymandias”, the second last track of the album.
While downloading the album I was reading the webpage and they mention a comparison to early Against Me! Confusion would run rampant again. I was convinced that “Broken Hearted Loser” was the second coming of “Shit Stroll.” While I can still hear where I got the comparison from it wasn’t completely accurate.
Don’t get me wrong, there are comparisons that can be made, and you can pick out possible influences in their songs (I even heard a little bit of Dead to Me’s “A Day Without War” in “Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying”). But I learned a few things from listening to Force Majeure (a good listen by the way, with something for everyone from political punk to punk ballads): think critically before you take things you read at face value, take your time before making any snap judgements, and finally The Shell Corporation, to be confused with the Shell Corporation.
T.J.