Shox, a Portland-based rock band, emerged from the creative partnership of longtime friends Danny Deebles and Dustin Simensen. Initially, the duo wrote and recorded music at home, embracing a lo-fi, bedroom-recording ethos. Seeking a louder, more dynamic sound, the pair added Karl Beheim, Nick Normal, and Sam Carpenter to the lineup and began writing collaboratively as a band. Their debut album was recorded in 2024 at Heavy Meadows Sound with engineer Vin Christopher, capturing the raw chemistry of the group. This live-in-the-room recording approach marked a departure from their past and produced a sound that was louder, grittier, and more polished. Influenced by the melodic riffs of Teenage Fanclub and the slacker rock aesthetic of the 1990s, Shox blends wall-of-sound guitars, deadpan vocals, and lush harmonies. Their debut album delivers songs that live between Blue Album-era B-sides and classic power pop.
Shox’s career is just getting started, but they’re starting off on a powerful point with their latest single. “Clover” is a hardcore shoegaze piece that brings the genre’s hazy tropes to life via explosive guitars, blazing melodies, and unpredictable song structure. The latest single from the band’s upcoming debut LP is a poetic ballad that dips into moments of pure instrumental aggression. The sonic conflict between the cloud-like vocals and crashing arrangement is what makes this performance so enticing. As you are drifting away with the stunning and vulnerable songwriting, you’re awakened by a wall of impressive guitar work rattling your speakers in a firework-style display of prowess. In just under three minutes, Shox can craft juxtaposing sonics that collide in the awe-inspiring beauty that is “Clover.” With a debut album on the way, Shox’s new single is a proper introduction to the exciting young band. “Clover” is an exercise in balance as the band pens a moving love ballad and sets it to a sonic battlefield between gentleness and aggression.
“We wanted to write a love song that sounded like you could fry an egg on the guitar tubes,” explains Simensen when asked about the band’s new single.
