Painted Shield

Sometimes an album by a new band gets everything right. Such is the case with Painted Shield and their eponymous debut release on Loosegroove Records. Rather than sounding like a tentative identikit of musical styles, it’s a brilliantly conceived, bold and cohesive portrait of its creators – chiefly Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, singer-songwriter Mason Jennings and drumming star Matt Chamberlain – and a clear-eyed statement of purpose.

Driven by pulse-racing electronic and live drums, bursting with gritty and sometimes psychotic guitars that weave in and out of luxurious keyboard soundscapes, and brimming with glorious melodies that fill the senses and hang on tight, everything about the album – a genre-bending mix of roots rock, electronica and contemporary folk-pop – feels so effortlessly assured.

Gossard sings the praises of his Painted Shield bandmates (“With Matt and Mason, this is what collaboration is supposed to be”), but he also stresses the importance of other friends and artists who contributed to the album, chief among them keyboardist/singer Brittany Davis and mixer John Congleton. “Brittany Davis is a Seattle singer-songwriter and force to be reckoned with. With people like that, it’s easy to say, ‘OK, here’s the song. It’s yours to mess around with.’ That’s where the magic is.” Other artists featured on Painted Shield include Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Lonnie Marshall, Josh Freese, Om Johari and Jeff Fielder.