On three albums so far, the quartet Algiers from Atlanta followed a straight path between the blues and gospel tradition of the southern states and the industrial rock of the north. On their fourth record, "Shook," they now take a completely new direction, or rather, break off in every conceivable direction at the same time. As if she wanted to rake in the history of 20th century music with a huge crowd of guests - among them Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against The Machine, Mark Cisneros from The Make Up and Samuel T. Herring from Future Islands - she combines elements of blues, jazz, rock, punk, hip hop, funk, electronic music and many other styles to a supernova of cultivated eclecticism.
"From our perspective, the new record doesn't sound that different from our previous albums," says vocalist Franklin James Fisher. "It's the sum of our individual experiences. It's just that the palette of possibilities is just broadened by the guests." Guitarist Lee Tesche sees another reason for the group's stylistic shake-up. As is so often the case in all areas of life, society and the arts, the new emerges from a crisis ...