Album Notes

Shake Some Action! is a dynamic power-pop band from Seattle. Recalling an era when jangly guitars and rich vocal harmonies fueled melodic pop songs, the band's influences are such luminaries as the La’s, Hoodoo Gurus, the Kinks, the Beatles, You Am I, Stone Roses, Big Star, the Hummingbirds, the Small Faces and Teenage Fanclub. The band was started in early 2006 by Australian songwriter/guitarist James Hall, after the breakup of his former band, the Jeunes. The Jeunes had generated some buzz in the Seattle scene in 2004 with local airplay and label interest, famously making a fan of London DJ/musician Jyoti Mishra, aka White Town (who had a worldwide #1 hit with Your Woman in 1997) after he randomly downloaded their EP from an internet newsgroup. Reviewing the same EP, ThreeImaginaryGirls.com said: "The music is hook-laden, lush and timeless. After a few listens, you will be utterly smitten with this band." Unfortunately the Jeunes disbanded in the fall of 2005, "to the dismay of fans… especially because so many of the Jeunes’ great songs had never been recorded and were therefore lost forever." - KEXP blog Aware of this, Hall retreated to his home studio and set about making an album throughout 2006, playing all the instruments himself, with the intention of recording definitive versions of songs he'd written for the Jeunes. Along the way, some new songs were written and the project took on a life of its own. Hall named the project Shake Some Action!, inspired by the quintessential power-pop song of the same name by the Flamin' Groovies. While the recording of the album was mostly a solo affair (apart from some lead guitar work by David Bos "flown in" from demos recorded a year earlier by the Jeunes), to support the release of the record, Hall has put together a sterling live band to play a limited number of shows in Seattle in late 2006/early 2007. Joining him are David Bos (Daylight Basement, the Jeunes) on guitar, Gary Miller (the Scheme) on bass and Chris Campbell (the Scheme, Zero Points) on drums. Released in January 2007, their self titled debut has received outstanding reviews across the globe. It immediately went into heavy rotation on renowned Seattle station KEXP 90.3FM and debuted at #9 on their album chart in its week of release. "Live at the Crocodile", a high energy live recording from Seattle's legendary Crocodile Cafe, is also now available.