SnoOks - Unfinished Business LP

While all of Jim Shepard’s work is more illusive than it should be, I’d never heard a peep about this project til the labels email hit our inbox.

SnoOks is the collaboration between Jim (USA) and Eric Svennson (Sweden). A vehicle for Svennson’s synth/beat/sound works, and Shepard’s lyrics.

The presser says No Wave but I hear more in common with Ralph Records, or early Bay Area industrialists like German Shepards.

While far from harsh or unruly, there’s an unfamiliar dynamic here that at points gravitates between Twin Infinitives, Devo’s twisted take on muzak, or post-second Suicide record Martin Rev and Alan Vega.

For me there’s always a degree of grappling to be done with the music of Jim Shepard, but like here, it’s always worth it.
- Nic