SHAM SAINTS: Out of Tune

Out of Tune is a new EP by the Sham Saints, a North County coastal band built around Darius (Degher) and Michael Packard. Both play guitars and sing, and they are joined by Phil Leavitt (drums), Louis Ruiz (bass), Chris Lawrence (Pedal Steel), and Ellen Maisen (backing vocals). Darius and Packard go back to the former’s psychedelic rock group Darius and the Magnets. The six tunes (the two singers share the songwriting) are lively and lighthearted alternative rock incorporating the social consciousness and wordsmith skills seen on Darius’ albums, while at times sounding like the best Tom Petty/Heartbreaker album fare–guitar driven, catchy, at times quirky.

“Pledge of Allegiance” rocks out of the gate, a single that wastes no time in going after POTUS 45 for the environmental crisis: “A snake oil billionaire/ Clown’s running everywhere/ I hear the people cheer/ While the ice caps disappear.” It’s already pegged for Universal Records’ World Peace benefit compilation album. Darius’ lyrical edge shows again on “Balboa Claims an Ocean,” a rocker anchored by nifty guitar work about the conquistador who came here and took this land from the “savages,” and claimed it for the European empire.

Packard’s “My Coat” is a funny breakup rocker; she is gone, okay–just leave his coat on his porch, he’s “gonna need it.” The quirkiness doesn’t end there, “Baby, I Blew It” has an almost Bo Diddly beat, interlaced with Darius’ sitar riffs as he laments mistakes with his baby, “They say you’ve got a new guru/ And I drove you to it.” It’s a funny highlight, on a disc that never disappoints.