Album Notes

Organic soul ... Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Arrested Development, Me Phi Me, Erykah Badu, Brian McKnight ... Shagg. Now throw in stuff like some Ben Harper and Soulive, featuring Dave Matthews, and Shagg ... and really be prepared to be impressed.

Two songs from the Peach EP were finalists in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, the eloquent "Shade of Melancholy" and "Just Ain't Enough." Getting to be a finalist in such a prestigious contest is no small feat, yet this Brooklyn, NY-based band did that coming out of the studio with demo in hand.

Soul, without the synthetics that have been prevalent the past 22 years, is not only refreshing, but a realization that the best of what we do comes from the power of the human heart ... transmitted through an acoustic instrument or human voice. Shagg is that organic element in a world where computers have nearly synthesized the human spirit, a testimony that whatever creator we believe in is still in charge and the urban landscape can indeed be organic.

"Shade of Melancholy" is one of the best songs around today. This is the successor to Soulive, featuring Dave Matthews, a recording enjoying a fair amount of airplay on AAA and AAA-leaning alternative stations over the past few months. I have no doubt at all I'm going to be hearing this band on the radio in the next couple of years. The music not only resonates with a contemporary freshness, but revels in the influences of their organic fathers of funk and groove.

This is some very fresh and exciting new music.

- Chris K.
Pro Critic Radio
July 25, 2002