Shack

Shack emerged from the remnants of the Pale Fountains, a cult-favorite outfit fronted by Liverpudlian singer/songwriter Michael Head. Bassist Chris McCaffrey, the Fountains’ anchor and Head’s closest confidant, succumbed to a brain tumor in 1986, after which Head turned to narcotics—heroin chief among them, given its ready availability in his district. Undeterred by these difficulties, he launched a new project with his brother John under the name the L-Shaped Room. The siblings soon rechristened the band Shack and delivered their debut album Zilch in 1988, produced by their friend and housemate Ian Broudie. Despite meager sales, Shack pressed ahead and tracked Waterpistol in 1989. A studio fire obliterated the masters, sparing only the single copy the producer had taken home, which was subsequently misplaced during an American road trip. A year later the rental agency recovered the tape, allowing the German label Marina to issue the album. Waterpistol earned glowing notices, yet the band had already split; the Head brothers backed their idol, ex-Love singer Arthur Lee, while bassist Pete Wilkinson joined Cast. The siblings nevertheless continued writing together, and with backing from French promoter Stephane Bismuth they recorded an album in 1993 as Michael Head & the Strands titled The Magical World of the Strands. Though it received strong critical acclaim upon its 1997 release, the record failed to reach a broader audience. Michael’s heroin dependency persisted, curtailing his output until the late ’90s, when Shack began work on their third album, H.M.S. Fable. Repeated delays caused by Michael’s detox stays pushed the UK release to spring 1999, where it garnered widespread critical praise, followed by a US edition that autumn. The next album, Here’s Tom with the Weather, appeared in 2003. The Head brothers, drummer Iain Templeton, and bassist Pete Wilkinson then reconvened for Shack’s 2006 release On the Corner of Miles and Gil on Noel Gallagher’s Sour Mash label. Drummer Iain Templeton died on December 20, 2022.