Shame - Drunk Tank Pink

Dead Oceans

London post-punk outfit Shame return to the music world with their second album 'Drunk Tank Pink'. The up and comers who made noise with Songs of Praise in early 2018 muster up an album that avoids all sophomore slump tropes, hurdles over them in fact.

Shame have matured on Drunk Tank Pink although they were relatively mature from the get-go. These new tracks host a new-found confidence, a knowing, an awareness. More focused and consistent Shame narrow their eyes on a more dancable, rhythmic and in some cases experimental edged output. The abrasive is paired with the atonal for a much larger spectrum of shapes and sounds. They're not resorting to aggression to get the point across, or to make the material come to life. The songs are worked in a way that aggression, in essence, is part of the track rather than a force upon it and in turn through it.

It takes inspiration from the more jangly, out there side of the post-punk world. It goes without saying that the Talking Heads have had their fair share of offspring over the last 40+ years and you can add Shame to the list! I'm not sure if there's a better band to pull influence from to tell the truth.

Put on a decent pair of headphones and take in the call and response of the guitars from left to right and vice versa. Very Strokes in feel but not necessarily in execution. It takes a more whacky, mad hatter approach to guitar dueling. Top hat-like m'lady manouevres. It's absoloutely stunning. There's plenty to unpack as neat drum machine(I think) tricks are implemented throughout which add depth and detail to this marvelous slice of post-punk perfection.

Favorite Track: Born in Luton