The Shed Project: A Day In The Dam – single review

The Shed Project

A Day in the Dam

(Coming soon)

Get ready for the trip of your life, courtesy of Bolton behemoths The Shed Project. Sam Lambeth gets amsterdamaged with one of the best bands in Britain.

You can feel the excitement as soon as the train pulls into view. You close your eyes and imagine the swilling of beer, the train station announcements coaxing into life over cracked speakers, the decadence and drugs. Then suddenly things change again. Your head rushes. Your head spins. Your head tilts uncontrollably.

These are just some of the emotions you go through when hearing A Day in the Dam, the new opus from the masters of melody, them lads The Shed Project.

Since the stately One Shot, the boys from Bolton have continued to make songs that tug at the heart and blow the brain.

It begins with a rockabilly strut that sits somewhere between solo Morrissey and early Levellers, as the Shedheads take in their Dutch surroundings (and some of the local, erm, flavours) and nod their head in agreement – Amsterdam, it seems, suits them down to the ground.

Over gliding melodies, stinging guitars and a cracking bass line, Roy Fletcher and the boys detail the decadent delights of the Dutch capital before a sudden stop. Fear not – the party is just beginning.

After that, it’s a kaleidosopic trip of interwoven guitars, chanted codas, frantic riffs and energetic drums. The drugs *do* work – The Verve were just not looking hard enough. Your pulse raises, the hairs on your butt crack stand up on end and your eyes widen as you take in the red light district, purple haze, coffee shops and bridges…all without ever leaving your living room.

It is not yet known whether the Netherlands tourist board have adopted A Day in the Dam as their official soundtrack, but they ‘dam’ well should. This is a splendidly clever, detailed and delightful ditty that encapsulates everything that is unique and ubiquitious in one of Europe’s finest cities.

It is a love letter printed on spliff paper. It is a hazy lament to a place where you can buy drugs as easily as you can buy Diet Coke. With this new song, The Shed Project have turned Amsterdam into AmsterDAYUM. A triumph.

The Shed Project are on Facebook and Twitter.

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All words by Sam Lambeth. Sam is a Birmingham-based journalist and musician. More of his work for Louder Than War is available on his archive. His music can be found on Spotify.

Source: louderthanwar.com