PAINTED SHIELD / Painted Shield

Sometimes an album by a new band gets everything right. Such is the case with Painted Shield and their eponymous debut release. Rather than sounding like a tentative identikit of musical styles, it's a brilliantly conceived, bold and cohesive portrait of it's creators - chiefly Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, singer-songwriter Mason Jennings and drumming star Matt Chamberlain - and a clear-eyed statement of purpose. Driven by pulse-racing electronic and live drums, bursting with gritty and sometimes psychotic guitars that weave in and out of luxurious keyboard soundscapes, and brimming with glorious melodies that fill the senses and hang on tight, everything about the album - a genre-bending mix of roots rock, electronica and contemporary folk-pop - feels so effortlessly assured.