Sheppard, an Australian indie rock band, released their debut album Bombs Away on July 11th in Australia and quickly managed to make a dent in the country’s music records, selling over 35,000 copies in Australia alone.
The band has been taking the world by storm one country at a time. With different release dates in various countries, Sheppard was able to gain support and love from new fans all year. Sheppard consists of six members, siblings George, Amy, and Emma Sheppard, Michael Butler, Jason Bovino, and Dean Gordon. The band formed originally as a duo back in 2009 with siblings George and Amy Sheppard when Amy had to do a music assignment for school. Bonvino soon joined as a third songwriter and guitarist, then later Butler and Emma Sheppard.
While their debut studio album, Bombs Away was released on July 11th in Australia, it wasn’t released in the United States until March 10th It peaked at number two on the Australian charts and was also thirty-first on the United States Billboard Top 200.
The first song on the album, Geronimo, was released as a single along with three other popular songs on the album. Geronimo is overall the catchiest song on the entire album as well as the most remembered. It was the first number one single in Australia that had been recorded in Brisbane. The other three singles include Let Me Down Easy, Smile, and Something’s Missing, which were also greatly written and well performed by the band. Let Me Down Easy was nominated for three awards and was written by Jay Bovino and Amy and George Sheppard. The single adds a “soft rock” feel to the album and gives a great vibe to listeners.
Each of the singles is catchy and well-written, and truly are what makes the album great. However, there are a few songs on the album that do stand with these singles. Most notably, This Electric Feeling is a well-written track with Amy Sheppard taking lead vocals. Although this song still sticks with the “indie rock” genre, it does have a pop underlining. Amy Sheppard has, overall, extreme vocal talent and ability. In Smile we hear her amazing vocals once again with a song that can easily put a grin on someone’s face, although it is arguably a bit cheesy.
Bombs Away was overall extremely well-written and well produced. The album is hopefully just one of many from this fantastic band. Sheppard has seen much success over the past year, and they have much more success to come. A band with great voices and great ideas will always go far. Their tour is also planned to start in late June, where they will travel to numerous cities across Europe and Australia.
