SHIT PRESENT

SHIT WEBSITE (shitpresent.com)

“The first song on this album was the first song I wrote after a period of about three years struggling to write anything at all” says Iona Cairns, the Bristol-based front person of emo power pop trio Shit Present.  “I realised that it still felt good; I do want to write an album.” Opener “Cram The Page” is a propulsive release, starting with a collage of looped, crunchy feedback. Through detached, driving strums, Cairns details the strains of coming to terms with her bipolar disorder. “She’s lost all her friends, doesn’t blame them at all / They watched her climb to the edge and couldn’t bear the fall,” she sings, commanding and steady. But this isn’t an introduction to an LP about the constraints of mental illness; instead, it’s a cathartic statement of perseverance, shedding the stigmas of stiff upper lips and embracing the vulnerability in sharing your story, even if it helps just one person.

The band’s previous EP’s Shit Present (2015) and Misery + Disaster (2016) garnered acclaim for Cairns’ fervent vocals, exploring themes of anxiety, depression and solitude. While What Still Gets Me doesn’t shy away from these heavier topics, there’s more of a playful reprieve, a kind of comfort among the chaos. “I was trying to let my 13-year-old self out, the one that loved all the embarrassing pop-punk,” Cairns explains. By leaning into the joy that made her love music in the first place, What Still Gets Me urged Cairns to express herself more freely than ever before, with the help of bandmates Thom Weeks (guitar, bass, vocals) and Ben Cottam (drums). 

Weeks and Cairns met ten years ago while on tour with their previous bands Gnarwolves and Great Cynics. The pair’s influences are palpable throughout their discography: brashy, assertive riffs, propelling percussion and sing-a-long choruses but it’s on What Still Gets Me that Shit Present have fully flourished into a no-holds-barred powerhouse. Take stand-out track “Unravelling” that details the uneasiness that comes with being unable to trust yourself, or those closest to you. Cairns was keen to have Weeks contribute vocals to mimic the feeling of two voices inside one head, scrambling for the limelight. “It’s safe to say I wasn’t very well when I wrote this, and it’s probably the song I’m proudest of for that reason,” she says. With both of them belly-screaming together, it’s the kind of purgative experience that can only arise when you fully surrender.

The album’s title track, with guest vocals from Camp Cope’s Georgia McDonald, unwaveringly points the finger at dangerous men who claim to be harmless. “It’s not always a stranger in the dark / It’s the person you trust that goes too far,” the pair yell in a call-and-response style that showcases the strength in allowing yourself to finally feel angry. This anger permeates the album, like a friend amping you up to finally face a reality that you’ve long shielded yourself from. Power-pop banger “Beyond Tonight” is a snappy, ear-worm chant, as Cairns sings “Trust me I can’t fall apart, I’m too strong now I’m so enough,” while “Crossed The Line” barks “What a colossal waste of time, Reassuring you we’re fine” over booming guitars. 

What Still Gets Me deals with weighty emotions, but it’s not an album about helplessness or intimidation. Through Cairns’ exorcising vocal delivery and the band’s relentless sonic arrangements, there’s a kind of rebirth that announces she is not a victim of herself nor anyone else. It’s a surrender to the feelings that make us uncomfortable, pushing them to the forefront instead of hiding them behind a curtain. By owning the messy, ever-changing landscape of our interior worlds, Shit Present offers up a collection where we can find solace in even our darkest, scariest moments. 

https://shitpresent.bandcamp.com/album/what-still-gets-me

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