Feb 18, 2012

February 18th, 2012 • Introducing

The idea of packing your bags and upping sticks to a foreign city is always an appealing one. If the city in question is Berlin, what with its reputation as a haven for the arts and an embracer of hedonistic creativity, it becomes even more so.

Great White Shark are the product of such a shift – three of its members moved over from London a little while back (“to escape their frustrating and repetitive lives”, no less) after dissolving (or putting on hiatus) their previous musical commitments, one of which included the relatively successful indie rock outfit Eight Legs. Whilst there, they met a locally based radio DJ cum drummer, and completed the GWS lineup.

Their music, particularly on their 4-track “Bring Us Back Together” EP (released through Berlin’s Snowhite label back in September) harks back to the mid to late eighties / early nineties, with bands like The Smiths, Echo The Bunnymen, The Stone Roses and The Brian Jonestown Massacre coming across as potential founding fathers of their neo-psychedelic based sound.

Of course, they put their own spin on things by adding a current indie-pop sensibility to the songs (see the uplifting EP title track in particular, with its Johnny Marr-esque riff) which make Great White Shark a very interesting prospect for 2012. Below is a new ‘basement demo’ of a track called “Forever Cool”, which didn’t appear on the aforementioned EP. Further new recordings, according to their blog, are imminent.

Tags: Berlin, Bring Us Back Together EP, Eight Legs, Forever Cool, Great White Shark, Snowhite, Studio East