LimeWire Music Blog

Portland, Oregon’s Shaky Hands are the kind of folk-rock band that can get a whole theater full of people who’ve never heard of them on their feet. Formed in 2003, they began self-releasing music the next year. Soon, their reputation and fan base grew, and by 2008, they were signed to Kill Rock Stars. Let It Die, the band’s second album for the label, attempts to emulate The Shaky Hands’ live power in the studio. Guitar-driven foot-stompers like the title track and “Caught in the Storm” are particularly successful at recreating the band’s onstage magic; “Allison and the Ancient Eyes” even incorporates hand claps. Singer and guitarist Nicholas Delffs — who, you may be interested to know, performs barefoot — has a gruff, textured voice that can do tenderness just as easily as rawk. And that’s why it works when the band decides to slow things down, on tracks such as “Don’t Fail Me Now” and “Leave It All,” a long, slow ballad that ends the album on a wheezy, wistful note. The Shaky Hands may be best experienced live, but Let It Die is surely the next best thing.