Saxon Shore

The story of Saxon Shore could be a sad one if it actually wasn’t kind of hilarious. Take a rock threesome, put them on a frustrating tour where the brothers in the band implode and then take leave, and finally leave one person to soldier on with the same name, albeit in a new genre. Wash, rinse, and then repeat. Guitarist Matt Doty indeed survived, and he has definitely turned his energy inward, as these instrumental electronic pieces, flourished by guitars and plenty of reverb, really bring forward a personal intensity and vision. All of the five tracks here are named on the dates that Doty started to play around with them, thus bringing a sort of piecemeal approach to this recording. The sounds range from the barely-there "May 26” to a great M83-style "June 23,” with a good dose of some drums in the standout "April 14.” While the ramshackle approach sometimes rears its ugly head, there are definitely some interesting ideas floating around Doty’s head and Saxon Shore may just rise again, maybe better than before.