Shaking Hand's self-titled debut is the first great album of 2026.

By lloydbolton52 on January 12, 2026

The Manchester band assemble expansive compositions from an impressive array of influences.

Photo: Sam Lindley | Words: Marty Hill

There is something really special happening in Manchester. The post-Britpop fog that had a stranglehold on the city's cultural output for the best part of thirty years can be filed under 'Did Not Survive Covid'. Manchester bands are pulling from a much wider pool of influences than before: the city is called home by an eleven-piece traditional folk ensemble, a healthy cohort of shoegaze and post-punk revivalists and some of the most attention-commanding underground electronic acts in the country. Upon the release of their self-titled debut album, Shaking Hand take their place as one of the city's most impressive offerings in a crowded field.

There's no particular throughline in the comparisons that the trio will provoke with this. Admirers of the likes of Ought, Ulrika Spacek and Omni should find plenty to like in the tightly-wound guitar work that the Manchester trio employ across the record, there's a melodic ease that recalls Yo La Tengo and Big Thief and conversely some really impressive slowburn post-rock straight from the Mogwai playbook. It's impressive that Shaking Hand are able to mesh such an array of sonic references across the album, but what is even more striking is that they do so whilst always looking forward.

There is an inherent tension in that the band are excellent at writing infectious taught guitar motifs and also very handy at building out pretty elaborate sonic landscapes. That way in which that tension is channeled is ultimately what makes this the first great debut album of 2026. Sharp new wave guitar strikes feature across the entire record — sometimes driving the songs forward, sometimes reigning them back in and sometimes submitting to something altogether bigger. Sometimes ('In For A… Pound!') they're the whole point. 'Sun Dance', the charmingly straightforward opener, is a standout amongst the non-singles and 'Italics' is another high point. Many bands would be likely to get two or three songs out of the amount of ideas and the range of tempos, textures and emotions packed into that six minutes.

Such is the control that the band have over structure, there is a point in almost every track here when things come to a complete standstill. Drummer Freddie Hunter says the band's best ideas come "when it feels like it's just about to fall apart and we're just about holding on". In these fleeting moments of stillness it feels as though the band are inviting you to fear that it might just fall apart before bringing you back around with a sudden injection of tempo, by bringing a hypnotic motif back around or by launching something much nosier. The entire record is a masterclass in toying with tension, pressure and release.

There are few new guitar bands with more ambition than Shaking Hand. Last year, they set about establishing themselves as one the best bands in one of Manchester's best crop of bands in decades. At the start of this one they have released a record which will not only strengthen that claim but should bring fanfare from much further afield too.