"When the Sha La Das released their 2018 debut, Love in the Wind, it was a bit like the discovery of an animal long thought extinct. A doo wop group releasing new music in the 21st century? Sure, Frankie Valli's still hanging on, and close-harmony crooning can be heard at civic centers, retirement homes, and casinos across the land. But a real band with members under retirement age, performing original songs? That was something else."
"Your Picture has all the hallmarks that made Love in the Wind a winner: Bill's supple voice, which can slide into a falsetto remarkably smoothly for a guy pushing 80; the warm, overlapping harmonies that can only be produced by people who've spent a good chunk of their lives together; and a firm grasp on classic doo-wop rhythms and melodies that makes room for outside influences from the realms of soul, rock and psychedelia."
"Opener "Young Love and Laughter," with its lumpy bass line, floating keys, and shuffling beat (including shrewd conga accents), does a good job of capturing the album's souped-up take on classic sounds. Though the rhythms and grooves might be relatively newfangled, Schalda's wistful melody has the poignant purity of bygone days, while lyrically evoking a less romanticized version of yesteryear."
Sha La Das grew from members connected to Charles Bradley's backing band and includes Bill Schalda alongside younger Schalda family members. Your Picture continues a revival of classic doo-wop with Bill's supple voice often moving into a remarkably smooth falsetto for his age. The group delivers warm, overlapping harmonies that reflect long familiarity among performers. Arrangements balance classic doo-wop rhythms and melodies with influences drawn from soul, rock, and psychedelia. The opener "Young Love and Laughter" features a lumpy bass line, floating keys, shuffling beat with conga accents, and a wistful melody pairing poignant nostalgia with lyrical resignation and a trace of hope.
Read at SPIN
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]