SHAME - Food For Worms LP (colour vinyl)

Limited edition purple colour vinyl.

Includes bonus poster.

Highly recommended.

Despite their youth, Shame are somehow already veterans within their scene, having formed as far back as 2014 and released their debut LP early 2018, a solid year before most of the other big names associated with the current post-Brexit wave of British post-punk bands.

Even if Shame don’t quite fit the same diverse and experimental mold of the other bigs in this scene such as Squid, Black Midi, or Black Country, New Road, and nor do they have quite as distinctive a style and approach as a band like Dry Cleaning, 2018’s Songs of Praise can now be fairly well identified as a ground zero for the movement that has earned so much hype in the last several years. A very solid set of accessible, indie rock-flavored post-punk tunes, their debut paved the way for Drunk Tank Pink, which saw the band really come into their own by focusing on powerful, hard-hitting rhythms while also finding the space for more intense, drawn-out songwriting. A superb sophomore effort, all things considered, even if Shame had already become relatively overshadowed by some of the newer kids on the block.

Even if Food for Worms is frequently notably softer than previous Shame material, it is far from a complete departure, with hard-hitting noise rockers such as “The Fall of Paul,” “Alibis,” and the aforementioned “Different Person” providing great variety to proceedings. The single “Six-Pack” is also a standout with its heavy psychedelic guitars. But many of the album’s standout moments are those one might not have expected following the band’s previous releases, such as the dejected, lamenting “Adderall” with its’ strikingly pained guitars, the desolate “Burning By Design,” and the closing “All the People.” The lattermost is a pleading anthem, a very obvious song in many ways but undeniably effective as it builds to its choruses which practically beg the listener to sing along.