Shame – Songs of Praise
Incendiary debut from the Fat White Family-mentored whippersnappers.
DEAD OCEANS | CD DL LP
SOUTH LONDON BAND SHAME fall between Birthday Party, Manics and Bunnymen models: a visceral, frayed, clanging racket but still mindful of tunes. Starting with the album title, you can practically taste the sarcasm dripping off frontman Charlie Steen’s acid tongue, though any 2017-is-rubbish overview hinted at in Shame’s earlier singles has largely made way for songs (Gold Hole, Concrete, seven-minute finale Angie) that view romance as the site of distrust and violence. Spoken-word serpentine blues The Lick pours scorn on modern consumerism: “Sit in the corner of your room, download the next greatest track... Something that’s relatable, not debatable.” One Rizla admits, “I’d rather be fucked than sad.” There’s no escaping Steen’s brutal vision, guitarists Eddie Green and Sean Coyle-Smith add Edge-like chimes to Concrete’s verses, before the terrace chorus tilts the mood back to belligerent. No Brit-band is better equipped to set 2018 alight.
Watch the videos for One Rizla and Concrete: