Shame - Drunk Tank Pink //Album Review
The year is 2021 and we're in our first month of our 3rd lockdown. Most of us are verging on insanity, rocking backwards and forwards whilst imagining what kind of sadistic torture we would inflict on Matt Hancock if we had the chance.
Within this blizzard of gloom Shame have released their 2nd album 'Drunk Tank Pink', three years on from their debut. Album opener 'Alphabet' kicks us off with a rumbling drum beat that leads us in to a charging punk riff, eventually shouting at us "Are you waiting... to feel good?". You can almost smell the mosh pit as you listen to it.
Like the first album, these songs are gritty and angst ridden, but it's clear that Shame's sound has evolved into something more layered in terms of rhythm and lyric writing. Songs such as 'Water in the well' possess the familiar driven guitar riffs that steered much of 'Songs of Praise', and while this sound is a welcome return, the tracks 'Snow Day', 'Born in Luton' and '6/7' are the stand outs, like a breath of fresh melancholy soaked euphoria. 'Snow Day' starts off with lead singer Charlie Steen speaking to us rather than singing, gradually building into a glorious eruption of guitar strings and impassioned drum beats, with glimpses of The Strokes iconic sound, and ends in an almost stadium like quality.
While the classic punk aggression can be found scattered throughout, this record has a distinct poetic quality to it. The poetic tone lends itself to the more rhythmic sound Shame have acquired on this album, and it works really well. It is clear that anxiety and the battle of the ego are the notable themes that have shaped these songs, especially on '6/7' which explodes with the cry "I hate myself, I love myself, I hate myself, I love myself…". We've all been there.
Artists who show honesty and vulnerability with their song writing will always be rewarded, and these songs offer up something raw for fans to get their teeth into. There is a sensitivity in each track that shows a great deal of maturity and intelligence, and in a time where everything from music to politics seems incredibly disingenuous, Shame’s record is a refreshing victory. It is almost unbelievable that the band are all no older than 23, but I wonder if the Gen Z lot haven't been forced to grow up at a faster rate than the generations before them, due to the world imploding spectacularly before their eyes. After listening to this album there will be hordes of music fans itching to see these songs performed live, so for now we will have to keep our fingers crossed that the world doesn't implode before then.
