A Midwestern band at its core, Shipwreck has invested the past four years into bringing forth classic Champaign-sound rock to a very flat Champaign County. The band is known to sway audiences from a relaxed enjoyable show to a revved up crowd through stronger guitar harmonies — transforming from just a Midwestern band with a coastline name to a Champaign-Urbana staple.
The juxtaposition of the relaxed and the rocked seemingly comes from the balance between the two front men on guitars/vocals (Harman Jordan and John Owen) mixed with the bass player (Vladimir Brilliant) and the drum player (Chris Waage). The two sides of the band work meticulously to produce nearly every song with both the placid and the excited by either having the front men crooning acoustically with the other two vamping up the back beat with thick drums and decisive bass, or vice versa.
Strangely enough, many critics would agree that the music produced also creates a sense of the open sea, even with songs like “Walk in the Woods,” which obviously implies otherwise. I claim this concurrence of the open sea and the Midwestern roots comes from the band’s abstract fluidity further driving home the recognition of Shipwreck being a staple to the C-U music scene, whether or not this is the band’s last show…but just in case, come check out the band tonight at 8:45 p.m. at Mike ‘n Molly’s. Common Loon and Terminus Victor are also scheduled as opening acts.
Photo by Dan Wendt