Shed Seven

  • Shed Seven (7)
  • Change Giver (Polydor) 1995 
  • A Maximum High (UK Polydor) 1996 
  • A Maximum High Special Edition (UK Polydor) 1996 
  • Let It Ride (UK Polydor) 1998 
  • Going for the Gold (UK Polydor) 1999 
  • Truth Be Told (UK Artful) 2001 

One of the dozens of scrappy young hopefuls to emerge from the mid-’90s Britpop renaissance, this energetic quartet weds a simplistic rough-hewn guitar roar to drearily infantile lyrics that mostly serve to celebrate singer Rick Witter’s witless narcissism. Luckily, Change Giver is a catchy melodic racket that oddly recalls both the Smiths (“Head and Hands,” “Ocean Pie”) and Electric-era Cult (“Casino Girl” and the terrific “Dirty Soul”). Unsubtle, inane and yet strangely appealing.

[Doug Brod]