phil shoenfelt

The Prague Post 15.12.2010

Phil Shoenfelt's four decades of work with Manchester, New York City, London, Berlin and Melbourne artists fits the personnel of his Prague-based band Southern Cross like a glove. Bassists Pavel Krtous, drummer Jarda Kvasnička and Pavel Cingl's violin and mandolin make up Shoenfelt's heavyweight rhythm section. Add to this a knack for storytelling that has made Shöenfelt an award-winning novelist, and magic is afoot. Paranoia.com opens with tracks of fervent, lyrical rock 'n' roll full of WikiLeaks media-age protest. This is followed by an evocation of Prague alleyways on Shoenfelt's wintry cobblestone reflection "Footsteps of a Dream." But the heart of Paranoia.com is condensed in the final two tracks of the album, which include the streetwise requiem "Forgiven," dedicated to the late Bruno Adams, the Australian-born longtime Berlin expat guitarist/songwriter. Closing with the gothic hope of "Shrine," Paranoia.com places Shoenfelt on the same path as the artists with whom he has shared the bill over the years, including Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch, Rowland S. Howard and Nikki Sudden. As one enthusiastic concertgoer at Southern Cross' album launch said, "This is rock and roll.

BLURT 17.05.2011

Phil Shoenfelt's history stretches back to the early ‘80s and the postpunk act Khmer Rouge. But the British-born/Prague-based singer/songwriter/guitarist has a steady flow of releases with both Southern Cross and the band Fatal Shore that only the geekiest of rock cognoscenti seem to know about. A shame, that, if Paranoia.com is any indication.

Much like his late friend Nikki Sudden (with whom he recorded the excellent Golden Vanity in 1998), Shoenfelt works in a straightforward, guitar-based rock ‘n' roll vein, crooning his poetic lyrics over basic riffs and unfussy rhythms. Boasting both a creamy baritone and a sense of melancholy that's almost gothic, Shoenfelt is less exuberant than his old compadre, given more to brooding folk rock like "Forgiven" or weary confessions like "Tired of Loving You." But he's no defeatist, injecting a strain of sardonic humor into the bitchy "Stupid Rock Star" and the obsessive title track. Like Sudden, Shoenfelt is something of an iconoclast, with no obvious place in the current modern rock landscape. But that makes an album like Paranoia.com all the more interesting and worth hearing.

Bucketfull of Brains #78/79 Winter 2011
by Simon Wright

The title track is a fierce Stones groove that lends Shoenfelt's carefully sung lyrics power and authority. Lines like "Now I'm standing at the edge of the future where the present and past collide" inevitably remind of "Well I live here in Kill City where the debris meet the sea". Sure enough track six is a well-constructed version of Iggy's 'Open Up And Bleed' which compares favourably to the version currently being toured by the reformed Stooges.
Throughout this concise release (ten tracks, no more) Southern Cross provide backing of such empathy that Phil always sounds like a band member rather than a songwriter backed by session guys. The closing track "Shrine" is calmer and more stately, the near-biblical repetition of "And all of this will surely come to pass" sounding like Island-era John Cale (albeit less Welsh). A diverse and satisfying set that should make these guys better known.

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Phil Shoenfelt	vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, loops, feedback and slide guitar
Pavel Cingl	violin, electric guitar and slide mandolin
Pavel Krtous	bass guitar
Jarda Kvasnicka	drums and percussion

Special guest:
Chris Hughes	metallic percussion on tracks 2 and 8

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