Shack

by Jason Ankeny Following the dissolution of his cult-favorite 80s indie-pop band the Pale Fountains, Liverpudlian singer-songwriter Michael Head formed Shack with his guitarist brother John. The group debuted in 1988 with Zilch, again falling victim to the commercial indifference which earlier plagued the Pale Fountains career; the follow-up, Waterpistol, was recorded in 1991 at Londons Star Street Studio, but shortly after the finished disc was mixed the studio burned to the ground, and the completed master was lost in the blaze. By chance producer Chris Allison had made a DAT copy of the album, but unaware of the fire he accidentally left the tape in a rental car while in the U.S.; upon returning to the U.K. and learning of the studios fate he managed to contact the rental car company and rescue the DAT, but still Waterpistol remained in limbo until 1995, when it finally appeared on the German label Marina. By then Shack had disbanded, however, with the Head brothers forming a new band, the Strands, and releasing the chamber-pop masterpiece The Magical World of the Strands in 1997. The siblings reformed Shack soon after with bassist Ren Parry and drummer lain Templeton, returning in 1999 with HMS Fable.