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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shoveljerk Packs House In Local Gig Black Happy Offshoot Meets High Expectations Of Fans

Joe Ehrbar Correspondent

Shoveljerk Saturday, April 15, at Outback Jack’s

Shoveljerk, the new Black Happy offshoot, played its maiden local show Saturday at Outback Jack’s but the new group hardly expected a sell-out crowd.

With several hundred people looking on, the Coeur d’Alene outfit undoubtedly had a lot more to worry about than just getting through its second show. (Shoveljerk debuted in Seattle.) The band knew it was going to be scrutinized by the audience through every moment its 45-minute set. And for good reason. Because Black Happy was such a fixture of the Northwest music scene, people understandably had high expectations for this new group.

Instead of succumbing to nerves, the volatile rock band used the pressure as inspiration and played with exceedingly high amounts of emotion and tension.

For only playing live twice as a band, Shoveljerk drilled out a remarkably hungry, tight and moshinducing set.

Comparing the band to Black Happy was unavoidable. It was strange seeing only four people on stage, when just a couple of months ago there were eight. You kept waiting for more people to join the band on stage.

No one did.

Although Shoveljerk roiled up massive waves of energy during its set, it didn’t quite reach the enormous tidal amounts of energy Black Happy once put forth.

As far as the band’s material goes, Shoveljerk wields explosive, crunchy, angst-driven rock. A great portion of its material is strong enough to help the quartet stand out from all of the other guitar bands congesting the world of rock.

The songs that aren’t as strong just need to ferment for a while. Heck, most of these songs are just weeks old.

The crowd’s response to Shoveljerk was amazing. From the time the four-piece group took the stage until well after it had left, the crowd convincingly showed its enthusiasm for the new musical venture.