[ Overview ]
South London based Shame have been making angular, punishing post-punk since 2014. The band - vocalist Charlie Steen, guitarists Sean Coyle-Smith and Eddie Green, bassist Josh Finerty, and drummer Charlie Forbes have created a debut that thrashes, adrenalizes and brutalizes over the course of ten songs. Of course, a record with such high and lows would have a name as brash as Songs of Praise.
What’s amazing about Shame is how fully formed they sound on their debut – there’s no way of really telling that this is their first record. Songs like ‘Concrete’ move at a nervy pace – the bass here is all Joy Division and the guitars approximate something like The Edge before U2 ever left Ireland. “One Rizla” has the shimmer of early songs by The Smiths, Steen’s growl is something gentler and more tender here - a little more Jarvis Cocker than Morrissey. “The Lick” has a positively huge guitar riff, anchored by Forbes’s Zeppelinesque drums.
They are also no strangers of playing with their dynamic range. “Gold Hole” sounds like it’s being played in a wind tunnel, cataclysmic riffing and bending, metallic harmonics woven in between the verses. Steen caterwauls the chorus before settling in to a swaggering sing-song verse.
Songs of Praise is a really marvelous group that packs solid songcraft with some seriously impressive chops. It’s a showcase for a band clearly on the move, redefining rock in an age where the vanishing point seems to be closer than ever. It’s a record of huge potential with a band that musters up the weight. Well worth your time. They’re the future of rock and roll. Enjoy it while it’s still here.
- Brendan Hilliard, Obviate Media
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