The fuzzy lo-fi title track from the 2004 EP, Jim Protector's guide to self-pity, is the song that put the four-piece band on their national music map. On that track, lead vocals are not washed out by jangly guitar rhythms, as they tend to be in shoegaze tracks. And their melodic guitar phrases do not dissolve into feedback. While the third track off their latest project, French, features a synthified Daft Punk-ish lead vocal.
Since their 2001 liftoff in Horten, Norway, Jim Protector had only recorded EPs and tracks for compilation albums. At some point, having relocated the band to historic Trondheim—a city well-known for its pervasive music scene—their recording studio was then erected in a refurbished work shed inside an abandoned smelting plant.
This year, Jim Protector's first full-album, Shields Down was forged, and released during the summer. The band was assisted in their studio by The Posies guitarist Ken Stringfellow, who also contributed vocals, keyboards and mixing assistance for the album's title track.
