Shiner wrote complex post hardcore tunes that feature start stop dynamics, time signature changes, and they were notorious for skipping something pop oriented like a bridge and would often opt to take a song in a whole other direction. On a local level, similar to what Boys Life and Giants Chair were doing. On a national level, similar to Quicksand, Failure and bands of that ilk. Great part about Shiner, is they did play a fairly large national audience in terms of inde-rock.
Splay, their debut album caught people's attention. I know I loved it back in the day and currently, it's #1 on my vinyl want list. The band could do the slow math rock thing then jump into full on rock mode at the snap of a finger. So, listening to their Sub Pop 7" I've always wondered why they didn't lay down a scorcher. Sleep it Off is great, it moves well but it doesn't have whole lot of energy. Empty has even less energy and borders on boring. I mean, here they are, putting out a record on Sub Pop in 1997. Sub Pop was at their most popular and kids were paying attention. If they wanted to leap over into the big time, this was it, lay down a hit, y'know? Don't give me Side 1 song 3, give the opener, get people's attention.
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