| Read the new mp3 review from THE FOLD MAGAZINE! http://www.thefoldmagazine. com/pdfarchives/08/Issue08pg13.pdf The Shapes – “I Don’t Wanna Know” By David Virden (THE FOLD MAGAZINE) Several members of the Denton fashion elite have been flocking to Dallas in droves to witness The Shapes, along with lead singer/bass player Patricia Rodriguez’s psychedelic dancehall collective, The Lollipop Shoppe (she spins as DJ Tiger Bee), and for good reason. After watching this 60s retrofashion miracle at Rubber Gloves a couple of months ago, I wanted to trade in my sneakers, flannel, and Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt for a green velvet coat and snake skin boots. Patricia’s wardrobe is not the only thing about The Shapes that’s likely to trigger an acid flashback, however. The Shapes’ music is psychedelic folk-rock straight out of 1967 that would give an Okie from Muskogee the irresistible urge to hang out backstage at the Monterrey International Pop Festival with Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is a delightful janglefest highlighted by Lance Pilgrim’s chimey guitar melodies and Patricia’s jealousy-stricken vocals that fall somewhere between the monotone of Grace Slick and the gentleness of the We Five’s “When I Woke Up This Morning.”The only thing missing from this sunshine pop nugget is a Rickenbacker. |
| The Shapes Practice Makes Perfect By M. Alex Goldman (VENUES MAGAZINE) Though their presence in the Dallas music scene was brief, The Upside Downers played with a host of impressive bands, including but not limited to England’s most prolific punk band, The Fall. And while this might go to the heads of lesser people, they managed to remain fairly grounded. “The Upside Downers led a very charmed existence,” says bassist and vocalist Patricia Rodriguez (right). So, when the Upside Downers parted ways with their lead singer and the remaining members changed their names to The Shapes, they decided it would be best not to slow down, and chance ruining that lucky streak. “We were kind of scared,” says guitarist Lance Pilgrim (left), “because Josh [McKibben, former lead singer of the Upside Downers, now with The Happy Bullets] had written most of the songs and we were kind of the backup band almost, but we automatically had ideas for songs.” “We didn’t even miss a practice between bands,” says Rodriguez. Their luck shows no sign of running dry. Only 4 months since their first show, The Shapes are booked to play a show every weekend for the entire month of November, and are already planning shows as far away as January. Rodriguez, however, would attribute that to respect rather than luck. “If people get us on a gig, I’ll return the favor,” She says. “I’ll see them, and promote their shows. When a band gets me on the bill, I’ll stay and watch them. We just try to be friendly.” The Shapes create the sort of unencumbered, confident indie pop befitting a band with a name as streamlined and elegant as The Shapes. Their music has a comfortable innocence, like a lived-in sweater or a chest of childhood toys, with Rodriguez’ buoyant bass lines anchored by drummer Chuck Spurlock’s (middle-left) blissful and straightforward pop drumming, and Pilgrim’s jangly, echoing guitar. While the band members all take inspiration from the garage rock and punk of the 60’s and 70’s, their music is uniquely modern, and has a feel similar to the bossanova indie pop of Teenbeat’s True Love Always. On stage, the band is often visited by part time tambourinist Danny Daniels (middle-right). Daniels peppers their live shows with his over-the-top tambourine showmanship, which finds him careening from one end of the stage to another. But even as he speaks through a smile, he seems very earnest about the importance of the tambourine. “I love the tambourine,” says Daniels. “It’s a really fun instrument. It adds a lot to the song. It blends together a lot of families of instrument into one instrument. It’s in the drum family, it’ s in the symbol-slash-bell family, and it kind of has its own sparkling percussive style all its own.” “He’s like the most popular member, but he’s not really a member,” says Lance. “It’s weird because people will go up and compliment him before they’ll compliment any of us. I think they’re just really amazed that he gives his all to this little instrument,” says Rodriguez. As well as creating a catalogue of fifteen songs, The Shapes are notorious for playing covers at their performances, playing songs by bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Cramps, and The Velvet Underground. “It’s easier than writing our own songs,” jokes Pilgrim, “we just like to learn songs in one practice to see if we can pull it off.” In the new year, The Shapes have big plans. An album and a website are both on the horizon for the band, and they even have hopes to tour, though the band is not rich, and would like any help they can get. “[Touring’s] kind of a fantasy right now,” says Rodriguez. “If someone pays for it,” says Spurlock. “That’s the problem, everything costs money these days and we’re all poor,” says Pilgrim. |
| THE DALLAS OBSERVER Jack With One Eye, The Shapes Saturday, July 10, at Bar of Soap SAM MACHKOVECH feedback@dallasobserver.com In a move that surely shocked about seven Dallas music fans, cover band The Upside Downers changed their name to The Shapes. The new moniker debuted at Bar of Soap on Saturday, and when I asked members of the packed crowd what the big deal was, they told me the band was also unveiling entirely new material. I found that hard to believe, as their five-chord flower pop sounded like a grittier Apples in Stereo, which wasn't as original as Shapes fans had led me to expect. Still, the set was tight, and the trio's best moments came when lead guitarist Lance Pilgrim opened up. His solos struck the perfect balance of restraint and whimsy, and they also gave the muscle-bound rhythm section a chance to shine. |
| INTERVIEWS! INTERVIEWS! STREET LEVEL SOUND interviews Patricia 1. Name and Position in the band: Patricia Rodriguez, bass and vocals 2. Where did the band name come from? Thinking of band names is harder than writing a song. It's going to be with you for the long haul so it should be fitting. I was actually walking home from work when I saw written on the sidewalk in gum (or what appeared to be) "The Shapes". I guess you could say it "stuck", ha ha! 3. What's the current lineup? We're a trio with Lance Pilgrim on guitar and vocals, Chuck Spurlock on drums and you know what I do already. 4. Who writes the songs? Lance and I both write the songs. So far its been a lot of independent writing and then bringing it to the table at practice to work on. I think together we make a good team although it would be a fun experiment to see how well we could collaborate writing a song from scratch. 5. How long have you been playing together and what are your future musical plans? Gosh has it already been almost two years? We're working on our first full length debut. I think we've spent enough time with the songs and they're ready to be put out. As far as other plans- really just making new music and recording albums that please us is what I'm aiming at. 6. What have been some of the best places to play? We had a great first show at Bar of Soap and that was kind of our home for awhile. Its not really a band venue, it's pretty dirty punk rock but then again those are our roots. We then adopted The Cavern as our home back before it got a fancy soundsystem. I started booking shows and showcases there under my Lollipop Shoppe name, bringing in bands that were good and unknown. The showcases have been stellar and are always well attended, some of the best Shapes shows have been there. Now it sounds better and LOUD. 7. Do you think you have a supportive local scene? I should preface all this by saying that these opinions are strictly mine and do not reflect the other members whatsoever.I have a problem with running my mouth and speaking my mind so I'll try to be as vague as possible. Theres a reason why I started booking my own showcases and developing my own event night- that reason is because this town is a hard town to thrive in musically if you play by everyone elses rules. Theres been a big shift in the scene. That why I started doing stuff at The Cavern. We played Denton a couple of times and got just a lovely response, Denton has always been good to me, even back when I played with Swivel. Our Dallas fans have been great about attending and supporting our endeavors. You have people like Cindy who run Texasgigs.com for nothing and theres a lot of work that goes into that so you know theres love there. If theres love there you can tell and it makes the scene a special place...I think Denton has that. They have supportive papers and media like THE FOLD and VENUES that are taken care of by music passionate people. On the flipside of that- I think Dallas is missing the love. Its a town where people are more apt to rip a band down, neglect going to see them and write bad reviews about them. Theres not a lot of nurturing. Its been a mistake for me to get involved with booking at all. I'm a bass player. I play music. I didn't really want to see the ugly underbelly of the scene- the games,clicks, ass kissing, favoritism, etc. I think if you're working as a professional in this field- a certain level of distance should be maintained from the bands. So, I don't recommend musicians getting wrapped up in it and if they do then adapt ways of getting around the obstacles because theres going to be plenty. So, to answer this question (long winded answer sorry!) theres some great people who support big time and then theres those little tiny bad apples who think they have a little power when they really don't. Bad apples you throw over your shoulder. 8. What's something no one probably knows about The Shapes? Ooh! More trouble! Hmmm....maybe that The Shapes practice in the heart of Gang Land currently and have incited a war with a neighboring gang that has already caused Lances window to have an egg thrown through it. 9. If you could play with anyone who ever was who would it be? Damn, I hate these questions and the ones about the island. Play with as in on a bill or play with as jamming out together? I got to open for my heroes Fugazi so I'd have to say....David Bowie if we're talking about living people. George Harrison if we're talking about the dearly departed.....but damn..Jimi Hendrix. Next question! 10. What are you listening to currently? A ton of 60's stuff but most currently it's been Broadcasts "Tender Buttons", Donovans "Greatest Hits", Tortoises "Millions Now Living...", Sea and Cake's "The Biz", "Village Green..." by The Kinks and some Coltrane. 11. If you could change one thing about the scene what would it be? Apathy! On everyones part- fans and Bands alike. Sometimes the bands are worse than the fans. 12. How do you think the internet (or myspace) has helped your band? You know what? I hate talking on the phone. I don't ever answer my phone and the idea of calling a stranger to harass them about booking my band is creepy. We've made so many connections on here that I've been able to book without hardly picking up a telephone-its been great. And we have so many fans from all over the globe, asking us to come play in their town- other bands wanting to play with us. Its been a great tool. It will be interesting to see how this affects the music world in the long term sense. |
| INTERVIEWS! INTERVIEWS! BASSGIRLS.COM interviews Patricia http://www.bassgirls.com/bass_rodriguezpatricia.htm On the horizon- An Interview with SAMPLE PRESS! (check back soon!) |
SHAPES PRESS
 | |  | |  |