Shansylvania Invite You
To The Haunted Folk Sounds of MostroCity
Shansylvania invite you to take an other-worldly trip to a place called MostroCity, which is explained in detail throughout the album's course, and the descriptions within the songs themselves, along with the spoken-word intros for most of them, really pull you into this storyline in such an incredibly unique way.
This is absolutely a concept album, and they go through so much amazing effort painting a picture in your head as the record unfolds. As I mentioned before, each track has an introduction before it. Almost all of them do, anyway. For the most part, you have these great introductions that set the scene before the song begins.
This is such a cool way to get into the vibe and build a unique aesthetic for a record.
So, the album is called MostroCity, and the first track is "Welcome to MonstroCity," which, yes, has a great intro explaining it before you dive into the track.
The introduction to MostroCity goes on to explain how this is a place where monsters are real and humans are only invited for one month at a time.
During this spoken-word intro, you have upright bass being bowed, giving you a very haunting backbone.
The track kicks in, and suddenly you have this semi-theatrical kind of bright, folk-pop feel going on. It's loaded with great instrumentation, all natural, all warm and rich, and you have plenty of Southern underbelly.
As the record unfolds and you get more of the story, situations, and places throughout this city, you start to pick up on more of that Americana tonality.
"Haunted Hotel" tells a pretty awesome story and is portrayed with mainly banjo, percussion, and more. This is one of my favorite tracks on the record, not because it's descriptive—all of the songs are—but because it really pulls you into this certain space for a little chunk of time.
I feel like that's what this whole album is really about. They're telling you this story, and it plays out like a book or a film.
You don't really want to skip chapters in that book; otherwise, you might miss out on one of the many fascinating places within MonstroCity.
Now, along with the folk and Americana aspects, these guys really bring some classic rock feels to the table as well. Songs like "Skeleton Song" feel like something that was written in the late 1960s or early 1970s. It's got real classic rock vibes, the songwriting is completely nailed, and the vocals even have this continuous Beatles-style harmony throughout the entire thing.
One of the things that really gets me about this track in particular is the drumming. The drummer is giving this really unique time-signature-style beat, and it's really just engulfing.
You get hints of surf rock in there as well.
This track is more than halfway through the record, and by this point, you begin to expect some of the unexpected.
As I mentioned, there's loads of this sort of classic rock undertone, folk, singer-songwriter, Americana and country attributes, and plenty more coming to the table, and it all gives you that live-performance sensation.
Again, it's so theatrical-feeling, but it's meant to be.
"Deadman's Disco" gives off a little bit of a '90s feel with that beat and even the approach, hinting at psychedelic rock, some delay effects on the vocals, and this colorful overtone.
Meanwhile, "Queen of Halloween" probably sounds the most like I tell you here late at night at the bar in this haunted place.
All of it comes together and creates this big experience, and I would suggest going through it all at once.
Like I said, it's almost like reading a book. You don't want to skip chapters in the book, nor would I suggest skipping songs on this record.
Meant to listen to the entire record, listen to all the stories, and walk away with this picture painted in your head of everything.
It's got such a great vibe, and I haven't heard anything quite like this in a very long time.
This is engulfing in all the best ways possible.
Not only is the story enticing and alluring, detailed and descriptive, but the music branches out into these different directions and really gives those stories moods and shape.
It was all very beautifully done.
Definitely dig into this one, and I promise you it's an experience you will quite enjoy.
MonstroCity - Album by Shansylvania | Spotify
Shansylvania - Haunted Folk Rock
