Music: Shaquille McNeill – Testing Grounds
With deeply skewed melodies scraping in
and out of the jarring whirlpool of
percussion and noise, Shaquille McNeill’s
debut EP “Testing Grounds” is equal parts
abrasive and beautiful.
Forming Golden Girls in the early 2010’s,
Shaquille, a veteran of the Melbourne
art-punk scene, found a cathartic
relationship with electronics and
programming that allowed him to move
forward as a musician, allowing him to
build and expand upon his punk and guitar
based roots.
Composed, recorded, and produced while
on hard lockdown in Melbourne, Australia
during the Covid pandemic, this EP explores
complex ideas about the unpredictability
of life and relationships. The lead single
“To all my friends and lovers (I’m sorry)”
showcases Shaq’s talent for gorgeous melodies,
with intersecting guitar lines over heavily
swung lo-fi house rhythms, bringing a broad
and inclusive sonic palette to the listener’s
ear. The tracks “Unity”, “Serious Bent Shit”,
and “VVITCHES”, delve into the psychedelic
experience through mutated synth lines,
ethereal distortion, and broken wonky beats.
