Author: Shaun Brady
Source: Philadelphia City Paper – Home Records
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The cavernous acoustics of St. Mary’s Church at Penn could almost be considered the fifth member of Shot X Shot. In this context the quartet, featuring members of Sonic Liberation Front and Bobby Zankel’s Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, sound not like they’re conversing so much as they’re calling to each other across a vast expanse. Which is appropriate given the band’s slow-build approach to composition, as if they’re warily approaching the melody, dodging and circling one another until the theme finally erupts. Tim Berne is an obvious influence; Shot X Shot share Bloodcount’s build-and-atrophy momentum and patience for development (none of the five tracks clocks in under ten minutes). All four members — Dan Capecchi (drums), Matt Engle (bass), Bryan Rogers (tenor), Dan Scofield (alto) — share an equal voice, and it is the push-pull of each feeding off the others, taking and surrendering the lead, that gives the group its powerful collective identity.
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