One Live Baby

What Do Shelves Sound Like?

1. If Teenage Fanclub played in Pavement to songs written by Weezer.
2. Ash with members of a very young Guided by Voices.
3. An un-American Superdrag.
4. Matthew Sweet who never went solo but somehow joined Spoon.
5. Stephen Duffy with a fascination for overdriven guitar amps.
6. Less radio-friendly, and even less macho Foo Fighters.
7. Big Star as a 90′s garage band but with lousier songs.
8. Every band on Naruto Season 1 soundtrack rolled into one.
9. Phantom Planet had the new millennium never happened.
10. Manic Street Preachers, if they were girls – and illiterate.

Biography

SHELVES is a come-back of sorts. With close to twenty years of experience in Singapore’s indie music scene between the members playing in their previous bands (Silverspy, Suchness, Livonia and Leeson), that itself seems to mean little in today’s fast-changing society of instant food, services and music tastes. For Noel Yeo (Vox, Guitars), Ritchie Melvin Ho (Guitars, Vox), Brian Leery (Bass) and Robin Chua (Drums), they were boys struggling to be men in the 90′s. Fast forward to 2011, they are men struggling to be boys again, finding solace in the cathartic arms of playing heartfelt power pop songs that promise the aching melodies reminiscent of Teenage Fanclub, delivered with the urgency of Weezer and insouciance of Pavement.

Noel Yeo first appeared in the early 90’s Singapore underground music scene through three EPs made with indie pop duo Silverspy. He would later form Suchness, whose single ‘Spellweaver’ won a spot on the now-legendary BigO Singles Club and was later declared Song of the Month on national radio station Power 98FM. It led to a publishing contract with Warner/Chappell, which gave him the dubious distinction of being the country’s first signed indie songwriter from an unsigned band. In 2007, Noel got back in touch with fellow guitarist from Suchness, Ritchie Melvin Ho, who decided one more punt with a fellow Big Star devotee might be fun. Robin Chua, from seminal Livonia was himself persuaded out of rock ‘n’ roll retirement to play drums. The final piece of the puzzle is filled by Brian Leery, bassist for the indie pop darlings, Leeson.