Don’t get confused between Shift and [shift]. The first recently released an album ‘Music for Atheists’, the latter is our subject, an Auckland band who conclude their album credits with, ‘We want to thank God for making all this possible and for giving us something to write about.’ Led by vocalist and guitarist Sam Burrows (also part of folk duo We Stole The Sun), this four-piece act have produced a fantastic alt-rock debut in ‘The Traveller’. Whether the hypnotic riffs of the title track, the ringing vocals of Dirty Little Fights or the classic drumming of Jerusalem, the 11-track album presents a musical journey, each song progressing to a new sound. [Shift]’s fourth recording jumps around, presenting a soundscape that roams between soft vocals and raging guitar climaxes, more bluesy sounds in Julia and the deep lyrics of single In The Middle, “I want more than a common goal, growing old, killing time…”. With vocal sounds similar to Boy & Bear and the opening track The Blood reminiscent of Opshop, they play on their influences (noting Opshop and Switchfoot as two influences on their Facebook page) whilst remaining entirely unique in their sound. This is an outstanding debut album from one Auckland’s emerging alternative acts, with credit also due to producer/mix/mastering engineer Nathan Tiddy.