Artist · chart history
Shellac
Band Chicago United States Active 1992–2024 US noise rock band
Shellac formed in 1992 in Chicago, United States and was active until 2024. Shellac has 3 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 1994–2000. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Crow”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #18. The station that charted Shellac most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 3 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1994.
Shellac came together in Chicago in 1992 with Steve Albini on guitar, Bob Weston on bass and Todd Trainer on drums, all three singing, and that lineup never budged until Albini's death in May 2024. They have been filed under post-hardcore, math rock and noise rock; the band preferred to call itself a minimalist rock trio, which is about as honest a description as you will get.
At Action Park, from 1994, is the sound of three people refusing to waste a single note. The guitar comes in serrated and cold, the bass hits like a steel beam dropped on concrete, and the drums lurch and stop on a dime. "Crow" is a good place to start: tense, stubborn, jagged, and weirdly thrilling. Six years later 1000 Hurts brought "Prayer To God", just as bare-knuckled and even more unnerving, and "The Dog & Pony Show" keeps the pressure on.
They released their records through Touch and Go and Drag City, and they never chased anything but the next brutal, perfectly placed riff.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Shellac on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crow | 1 | #18 | – | 1994 | |
| 2 | Prayer To God | 1 | #19 | – | 2000 | |
| 3 | The Dog & Pony Show | 1 | #24 | – | 1994 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 19 | Prayer To God | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 2000 |
| 1994 | 18 | Crow | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1994 |
| 1994 | 24 | The Dog & Pony Show | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1994 |
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