Already picking up rave reviews is the second album by south London indie/alt/punky outfit Shame.
Spawned from the raging dark shadows of the notorious Queen’s Head pub in Stockwell, the band broke cover in 2017, and released their debut album, Songs of Praise, in early 2018.
Will Hodgkinson of The Times was impressed, purring, “this album has excitement and confidence fizzing out of every song, the spirit of punk-rock defiance given an energy shot for a new generation,” while Mojo described the 10-track album as an, “incendiary debut” from a band who are “a visceral, frayed, clanging racket but still mindful of tunes.”
Before the lockdown hit, the band spent two years on the road, finding time to perform at their second booze-filled home, the Railway Tavern in Tulse Hill, several times.
Reviewing the new album, The Guardian said:
The music slips its moorings from Shame’s acclaimed debut, Songs of Praise, and ventures into darker, more abrasive waters: there are points when Drunk Tank Pink’s knotty guitar riffs, off-centre time signatures, sudden changes in tempo and bursts of dissonance resemble a less self-conscious Black Midi.
When it works, it’s viscerally thrilling: the scouring blast of Harsh Degrees, the slow-build-to-cacophonous-climax of Station Wagon, and the sheer oddness of Snow Day, the least bucolic-sounding song imaginable about losing yourself in nature.
… Drunk Tank Pink is best when it shifts towards something more soft-focused. Human, for a Minute slackens the tempo, Steen stops shouting, the prickliness of the guitars is dialled down, there are vocal harmonies on the nagging, endlessly repeated refrain of “I’m half the man I should be”. Emotional impact isn’t sacrificed.
If anything, the song hits harder than its ostensibly harder-hitting neighbours: proof that – for all the noisy excitement generated elsewhere – there’s a power in stepping back and reining things in.
Buy the album -and see an exclusive broadcast
The album can be bought online here (CD/vinyl and cassette) , and all orders will receive access to an exclusive broadcast – a live performance film – which will go out on Wednesday 20 Jan at 7pm UK / 2pm ET.
A private link for the broadcast will be sent at 5pm UK on the day. The film will be viewable for 48hrs after broadcast.
More info