Shedheads – Big Milk (13th Floor Album Review)

Nelson trio Shedheads introduce themselves with Big Milk, a debut album that barrels out of the gate with intent, throwing funk, rock, and noise into a blender. Across ten tracks they make noise, play fast, and say a lot. Whether every moment lands is debatable, but there is no doubting their skills, ambition, or energy.

Formed by JP Moynihan (vocals/bass), Ryan Smith (guitar), and Shoei Ito (drums), Shedheads bring a kinetic live band spirit to the record. There is a clear debt to Red Hot Chili Peppers in the guitar-bass interplay on tracks like Let Me Know and So Much More, where funk rhythms are jolted by rock muscle. This is especially true in the early songs, where slinky riffs snake beneath bursting drums and Moynihan’s steady, near-spoken vocal style.

The standout Electric Baby is a rock-funk juggernaut, cramming half a dozen ideas into one volatile track. Guitar stabs and crashing drums give way to calmer incantations, only to rev up again, racing toward a frenetic finish which leaves the listener thrilled and exhausted. This is a pattern repeated across much of the record: high-energy shifts, multiple movements, and a tendency to throw everything into a single song rather than spread ideas out.

The band’s flair for dynamics often pays off. Loathing settles into a near-motorik groove after a burst of chaos, while #1 showcases the power of restraint, as aching vocals are laid over brushed guitar before a subtle funk groove briefly surfaces. On Throw Your Lighters Away, though, the repetition and length blunt its impact. Despite jittery rhythms and shuffling beats, the energy begins to sag by the five-minute mark. The title track, Big Milk, captures both the band’s strengths and tendencies: six heady minutes that mix oscillating noise, wistful vocals, and tempo shifts. Meanwhile, Actium flirts with self indulgence as it stretches to nearly seven minutes, with builds, drop-outs, and feedback-drenched flourishes.

There’s a lot to like here. The drumming is especially strong, crashing, slicing, always propulsive, and the guitar work often adds colour, lifting songs to new heights. A more focused approach would let these ideas breathe and the songs might benefit from more tonal variation in the vocals to match the band’s musical range. FBB, the album’s shortest and most cohesive song, points to a possible future direction: more clarity of focus, fewer competing elements, and a tighter, more consistent structure.

In Big Milk, Shedheads show themselves to be a band rich in sonic ideas and with the technical competence to pull them off, but still finding the right balance between when to lean in and when to hold back. When it clicks, it’s potent, but the wealth of technique can end up muddying rather than sharpening their songs’ impact. There is promise here, especially for fans of early Muse or Rage Against the Machine, but that potential is just out of reach for now.

John Bradbury

John Bradbury
Latest posts by John Bradbury (see all)