Shock Me

Despite having a title track by Kiss, this mid-career EP displays a confident, introspective Red House Painters seemingly influenced by a parallel world where Nick Drake shoegazed it up with Ride or Chapterhouse. Somehow, it's quietly splendid. Both Sundays and Holidays and Three-Legged Cat take the plaintive, solo-acoustic work of a haunted troubadour without once sounding folksy or trite. Even the cover title track sounds just bridled enough to stun fans of both Kiss and Red House Painters alike (Mark Kozelek would later repeat this strategy on his debut album, Rock 'N Roll Singer). Most EPs are nugatory, contract-stalling diversions, yet this mini-release is simply essential -- in both senses of the words. ~ Dean Carlson, All Music Guide