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A strong contender for album of the year, Shaking the Sheets is a masterpiece of fucked-up mod pop: political but not preachy, insistent yet never twitchy, respectful but never blatant.
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Entertainment WeeklyPractically every song is a near-perfect amalgam of straight-up melodies and pogoing beats. [5 Nov 2004, p.80]
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Crackles with sparkling guitar work and [is] simply a great, fun, rock n' roll album.
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If Shake the Sheets lacks the subtle, nuanced excursions of its predecessor, it's redeemed by an urgent, unrelenting focus.
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Easily Leo's best album since The Tyranny of Distance.
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FilterHas everything we've come to expect from Leo: it's clever, earnest, wry and literate, all delivered with his trademark falsetto flourishes. [#13, p.100]
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Using only guitars and drums, the Pharmacists whip up a powerful mix of wild abandon and subtlety that is a perfect backing for Leo's vocal dexterity and clanging guitar heroics.
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BlenderMuch of [Sheets] sounds like a pop-punk update on Springsteen. [Nov 2004, p.137]
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Leo manages to weave his messages into some of the tightest, most energetic rock you're likely to hear this year.
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Alternative PressArguably the best record of Leo's career. [Feb 2005, p.84]
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Under The RadarLeo has proven himself a songwriter of intricacy and experiment, but what he's created with Shake the Sheets are not just songs. They are mantras. [#8, p.110]
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An album that sounds vital and immediate.
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Leo’s vision has crystallized. The songs are shorter and tighter than anything he’s seared onto tape, and his complex melodic phrasing arrives pitch perfect.
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Leo's singing (showing a few traces of a soul side) has never been more confident or convincing.
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Leo exploits rock dynamics with the timing of a veteran stand-up comic. He bounces vocals across half-riffs, drops the drums in and out, and invariably holds back a little for the big finish.
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The most Chisel-sounding record he's released as a solo artist, returning to stripped-down arrangements and, on "The Angel's Share" and "Little Dawn", his fascination with repetition.
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Leo proves himself emotionally enervating throughout, so it’s really a shame that Shake the Sheets isn’t half so sonically invigorating.
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The songs on his latest, often about political ambivalence and soul-searching alienation, are still catchy as V.D. But they lack the fiery complexity of past efforts.
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New Musical Express (NME)Firecracker mod-punk and allegorical political cut-and-thrust. [5 Mar 2005, p.51]
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It's the first truly inessential album he's made.
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The songs themselves aren’t as outstanding as they could be, and it sure doesn’t help that the production choices give them less of the overwhelming energy that the Pharmacists are known for.
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Rolling StoneFar crisper and way less jagged than his last two albums. [30 Dec 2004, p.160]
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Q MagazineWithout enough killer hooks Leo seems unlikely to claw his way much beyond cult attraction. [Mar 2005, p.100]
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UncutPower pop without the escapism. [Apr 2005, p.105]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 17 out of 19
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Mixed: 0 out of 19
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Negative: 2 out of 19
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MichaelSOct 14, 20069.6 I cannot wait for his next one.
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KingofthecosmosNov 27, 2005
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LelandROct 12, 2005Great album, some amazing stuff on here