The Fire
Loverdrive

"Rather than forcing a flow that until today has been natural and self-sufficient, declaring its definitive dryness, we prefer to part ways and each follow our own path, without regrets for the past and aware that this future is the logical consequence of our inclinations”.

This is how, on February 13, 2006, the Shandon website formalized the band's breakup; of course, this is just a small part of the announcement, but I believe it is the most honest, direct, and painful for those who had followed them for a long time. So it happened: the Shandon members each took their own path, seeking other directions for that now-drained flow, Andrea (bass) continued with Melloncek, Marco (guitar) with Corni Petar, and Olly (guitar and vocals) formed, together with Madbones, The Fire, whose album titled “Loverdrive”, was released in 2006.

Debut work from this group is energetic and aims straight for the listener's ear and heart, with no half-measures; forget the “ska core” of Shandon, keep the “core” if you like but here there isn't even a hint of ska; perhaps, if you listened to “Sixtynine” (Shandon's last studio work from 2004), you might expect an album like that, but the best thing is not to look for Olly's past in his present. “Loverdrive” flows magnificently for 40 minutes, the music of The Fire is a rock that can be hard and powerful with hard-hitting shades like in “Waitin 4”, “One Way Train”, “Ixis” and “Big Brother”, with strong and catchy melodies like “Emily” (its first words almost yelled «Faster faster flirtin’with disaster» seem to break the rhythm of the first track “Loverdrive”), “Suicide Girl” and “Best of the World”, but it is above all capable of being poignant and sweet in the two ballads, “Unwish” and “Remedy”, the latter closing the album. Worth noting is the cover of “Small Town Boy” where the electronic sounds of Bronski Beat are reshaped by rock, the result is stunning: by inserting some nice guitars, distorted and powerful enough, the chorus and melody are enhanced, and the song thus takes on a new allure.

Olly is in great form, his half-angelic and half-diabolical voice fits well with both the fast and slow moments of this album; the parts sung by Andre, the guitarist, are also quite good. A rock, as already mentioned, capable of being powerful, strong, energetic, and melodic but also melancholic and poignant, music that flows leaving good impressions at the end of listening. You can find similarities with the Foo Fighters and traces of the same Shandon, but it's wrong to trap everything in a genre and perhaps find similarities: every group has its own personality (as well as sound) and that of The Fire is truly engaging, so engaging that, after listening to them, I felt the void left by Shandon filled within me... not completely, but a little bit.