Trainer (no nicknames known) is also Brick Layer Cake, a magnificent minimal rock band, and currently a member of Rifle Sport, the longest lived, least active rock band in Minneapolis. He was also in Breaking Circus during "the good years" and has played drums for Flour and other charity causes.

Albini (no nicknames known) has a closely-guarded, but apparently checkered past.

Shellac At Action Park is Shellac's first LP. Previously the band released "The Rude Gesture (a pictorial history)", "Uranus" and "The Bird Is The Most Popular Finger", all seven inch 45s. They are all still available.

The album was recorded electrically, and features no overdubs, no guest appearances and no tiny cymbals that go "pish".

The LP format of Shellac At Action Park is an audiophile pressing, manufactured to classical standards. Mastering is all analog, direct-to-metal (DMM), and the records are virgin, dye-blackened vinyl, weighing 177 grams (the nice thick ones that don't bend).

The LP is being released somewhere between six weeks and a really long time before the cassette and compact disc, giving anyone teetering on the LP/CD fence ample time and no excuse not to buy the LP.

The LP and CD packaging were printed by Fireproof Press , a thriving Chicago concern most remembered for printing the Sof'Boy figurine package and the Tortoise LP jackets. The LP is a revival of the Uni-pak style record sleeve so popular with early 70's soul bands, in particular Rasputin's Stash.

Shellac is not promoted or marketed by anyone. Shellac's recordings are manufactured and distributed in Europe by Southern Studios.

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The following interview by Eamon Sweeney of the Trinity News, Ireland

SHELLAC ATTACK (Trinity News, April 27, 1995) :

Steve Albini is back in Chicago after a week long tour in Europe (which this hack caught in London and has been babbling about endlessly ever since).
So why was the tour so short?

"We have other job commitments. Our drummer Todd is the manager of a very large warehouse and shipping facility in Minneapolis and our bass player, Bob Weston and I are recording engineers with very busy schedules. We have to accomodate our straight jobs and recording schedules, which means we can only take time off at intervals. If we take too much time off, it is too much of an imposition on our jobs."

At the London show some members of the crowd were very hostile towards you and the band. A Melody Maker review of the show remarked that Shellac appear to be a magnet for assholes.

"Well it's sort of a professional hazard. I have to say our London show was one of the most boisterous crowds. I've never been comfortable with the fact that people treat our shows like a riot booth and come bottled up.
In general it's a pretty small percentage. If I really twist up my logic I can feel flattered by the fact that people are not shy about giving their opinion directly, but generally it's more revolting than flattering. We bring it on ourselves by not being terribly slick or suave on-stage. The London show was particularly a drag for that reason. There were inevitable delays, and delays invite people to fill in the gaps."

There was a lot of new material in the set. Can we expect new material to be released soon?

"We write stuff at a fairly slow pace. We don't have enough new songs which we're really happy with to do another record yet. We probably are going to do some recording soon, but we like to do songs both early and late in their development."

"At Action Park" (Shellac's stunning debut album) was one of my favourite releases of last year. Anyone who I've played the record to loves it (at this point Albini says he is flattered). Why did such a good album have to have such a low profile?

"I'm more comfortable with letting the record develop its own audience. I'm in an unusual position; I get records shoved under my nose all the time, and it is kind of offensive. I'm glad that Shellac isn't being presented in a way that is irritating. There is no shortage of bands who are presented as the next fantastic thing or whatever. The more you hear that story the more expectant you become. I think there are enough bands trying to attract attention to themselves that it is OK that there are some new bands who are reserved about their public image. It's fine by me for Shellac to be one of them. If we continue to put out good records and play decent shows the band will eventually attract its natural audience. You don't have to go shaking the tree to get every single person to pay attention to a Shellac record. I'm comfortable with the notion that some people will not like us, but those who do will probably eventually hear us."

You have said that all Shellac songs are either about baseball or Canada. Is that being flippant to distract lyric analysers or is there some truth in that statement?

"We discovered after recording the album that most of the songs did not necessarily have a central theme but were talking in some way or other about Canada or baseball. It is a flippant remark but not completely off the mark. There is no reason for those two subjects to show up so much, but at the time of writing and the entire duration of the band we've been interested in the ridiculous aspects of Canada. Canada is a huge country with a very small population and consequently a very big attitude problem, especially towards the United States. A lot of its culture is parasitic of its parent countries, (notably Scotland, Ireland, Eastern Europe and France), so much of Canadian culture is a hundred-year-old version of European culture. The other part is due to its proximity to the United States and a common language, which makes Canadians act a lot like Americans. In the States people are sick and tired of celebrity but in Canada they are still fascinated with folk heroes."

At this point Steve Albini apologizes for going off on a tangent. With this interest in Canada and the subject matter of Shellac's first single "The Rude Gesture" (A Pictorial History) which contains the song "The Guy who Invented Fire", there seems to be a fascination with primal history of civilization.

"The band's conversation topics tend to be quite convoluted. The subject matter of our songs is much more about rudimentary behaviour and universal truths existing within any culture. There are so many moments within a day when people do things which are indicative of a few stories and experiences in their lives. When people say or do things it often involves the history of a certain personal saga. If you think about it beyond a superficial level, it is quite revealing and often quite touching."

You have often expressed your dissatisfaction with the music industry. Do you see yourself as always working in music?

"My profession is as a recording engineer and my passion is as a performing rock musician, in that sense I have cast my die. For the foreseeable future I'm going to be a recording engineer and the majority of business that I get for my services is not exactly within the professional industry. Most of what I do is speaking directly to a band, who are people I can understand quite well. Strictly speaking I don't consider myself part of the music industry. I would consider myself part of the underground of hobbyist musicians. On a social and professional level I'm a recording engineer who doesn't really have much contact with the social and political world of the mainstream."

So where does that leave the hero-worshippers and the "Deity of Din" title?

(Long pause) Ermm, that is sort of their problem. We have never done anything to pander to anybody's expectations, whether it be somebody in a record company or someone in a peer group or someone who could be classed as a fan. We do things based on what we intuitively know to be the right thing to do. It is a lot easier to do that than to do what people expect of us."

Some people will not give Shellac a chance simply because you are involved. How do you feel about your notorious reputation (Courtney Love being the most publicized example).

"Again, that is a professional hazard of being a loud mouth and straightforward with my opinions. It is a trade off. I could be extremely modest and try to preserve an artificial comradery with a bunch of people, but it would be futile. If you are really honest with people you are never at a loss for words. That could be the single biggest reason that people have trouble with me as a personality. They don't like any of their notions to be challenged. If someone asks me what I think I'm not too shy to tell him. Most folks are much more judgemental and spiteful than we are. They just don't have that side of their character made public. It is a matter of tempering an un-conventional attitude to music with a little straightforward plain English."

Are Shellac ever going to play in Ireland?

"We'd love to. I've never been to Ireland. We've always had it in the back of our minds as one of these places where we have always wanted to go. We made a few tentative steps in trying to put together an Irish tour. If we can hang that trip on making a percentage back on some other shows such as a longer tour in England or France or something, then it is conceivable, even if we stand to make a loss. All of us have been in bands for so long that we have often lumped our losses and operated idealistically. It is possible to do things in a reasonable way and not be taken advantage of and we do it more than liberally. After ten years or so the willingness to do it as a charity isn't so strong."

If or when Shellac do play here I would strongly recommend your attendance. Steve Albini was a polite, relaxed and warm interviewee, completely different from the cantankerous and bitter caricature which the music press have been regurgitating for years. But for you the listener, the nature of Albini's personality is neither here nor there, and as the old story goes it is the music that matters. It should also be noted that there are two other talented musical forces behind Shellac: bass duties by Bob Weston (ex Volcano Suns) who has recorded terrific records by Archers of Loaf and Sebadoh, and demonic, psychotically charged drumming from Todd Trainer, also singer and guitarist in Brick Layer Cake, drummer in Rifle Sport and manager of a warehouse and shipping facility in Minneapolis.
In my opinion Shellac are the most exciting guitar-trio in the world today, but don't take my word for it, find out for yourself and ponder over Todd Trainer's words: "Press is a matter of curiosity for me but it usually disgusts me. I mean, who's to say McDonald's is better than Burger King."