Shellito – Benevolent Laser

We’ve talked before about some of the excellent music coming out of the City of Brotherly Love and the new year began with a stellar reminder of that fact. Mike Shellito emailed us here at (((withoutsound))) and asked us if we’d be interested in hearing his new release, Benevolent Laser. It may have been the fastest we ever returned an email.

Back in 2002, my brother Drewl turned me onto Shellito’s excellent Ingredients. With Mike’s laid-back but intimate vocal style and strutting a subtle Byrds-ian bent, Ingredients also bore a striking resemblance to some of Elliott Smith’s later work. And now 5 years later, we have Benevolent Laser.

Similar to my thoughts on the Shins’ new release, Mike Shellito has a formula that works and he sticks to it. Refusing to bang you over the head with over-hooked pop, Shellito instead insists on seeping into your earhole over time by crafting music that grows on you, taking root and blossoming in your brain upon repeated listens.

Here’s a taste, but as you can probably infer from above, you’d be better off buying the whole album.

• Listen to Tuckahoe
• Listen to Somehow Good
• Listen to 1-2-3-4

Join the Fight and buy Benevolent Laser from the artist himself.