Looking to maintain their title as Most Exciting Band in Britain, Shame return with their second album Drunk Tank Pink: an exhilarating, and at times frightening, insight into the impact of early success and incessant touring on a band’s mental state.
Packed with energy, snark and absolute bangers, it goes above and beyond what their debut managed to achieve in every conceivable way.
Whether or not they found what they were looking for, ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ confirms Shame’s status as one of the most exciting bands at the forefront of British music.
In spite of all that’s going on, the ground that Shame manage to cover, it all hangs together brilliantly. Drunk Tank Pink is a great album, from whatever angle you look at it.
Drunk Tank Pink sees Shame taking the anxiety of the last three years and cathartically pushes this into their music, resulting in a record that feels especially important right now.
The outfit’s second LP finds the band exploring a tumultuous moment in their lives, via the power of jerky, gnarled post-punk and stream of consciousness lyrics.
Drunk Tank Pink is a beautiful demonstration of how musical rebellion and fury need not be explicitly lyrically tied to the current moment to speak directly to those living through it.
The bolshie anthems of its predecessor might be thin on the ground here, but admirably, Drunk Tank Pink is the sound of a band pushing themselves to discover new sonic and emotional terrain.
Shame's Drunk Tank Pink emphasizes something that's become even rarer than a rock star: a legitimately exciting band.
Drunk Tank Pink bristles with the pent-up aggression of men who aren’t allowed to be loud and shirtless in public any more.
Drunk Tank Pink's less immediate than its predecessor, but it handsomely repays those prepared to stay the course.
Somehow, Drunk Tank Pink manages to strike that medium in being relatable AND debatable. It’s an album that demonstrates the energy, wit and charisma of Shame, why their voice is vital, and why they deserve to be influencers in their own right.
Shame never lose their momentum on Drunk Tank Pink, an often thrilling snapshot of a band headed for great things -- and quickly.
Recorded in France with Arctic Monkeys’ producer James Ford, the Brixton quartet’s new record is funkier and squawkier than their debut.
Shame could've settled when, instead, they've outsmarted their post-punk contemporaries with their apolitical, yet powerfully-charged message about sticking it to the doldrums.
Drunk Tank Pink triumphs. No less do-or-die in their commitment, these songs are less determinedly dense.
It’s certainly an album created with plenty of thought and various concepts tackled within its 40-odd minutes, leaving a sweet aftertaste, and the urge for an immediate re-listen.
Shame have put together a collection of fantastically varied ragers that are bound to blow the roof off whenever we’re allowed back to live gigs.
These eleven tracks are beefier, more confrontational, more dissonant than before, and all the better for it.
Shame are in a different, increasingly dejected headspace, and they poured their anxieties into a more considered album. Drunk Tank Pink is more varied in pace and inspiration.
The London post-punk band’s second album is bigger, louder, and more textured as frontman Charlie Steen anxiously details the strange gap between youth and adulthood.
With Drunk Tank Pink, Shame have achieved what many fail to: they’ve taken what works from their first album, and made it better.
The second LP from London's Shame is a thrilling kick in the teeth.
While the constant need for creative freedom and instrumental variety means that Drunk Tank Pink begins to meander towards the record's back end, a handful of sprawling epics showcase Shame's enviable talent for vivid storytelling.
It’s not that they stray far from their genre, more that they expand the possibilities of what they can say and how they can sound. Now Shame gaze out at a much wider musical horizon.
Drunk Tank Pink comes three years nearly to the day after Songs of Praise, bruised and bruising, fitter and angrier.
Drunk Tank Pink is an all-too-often unimaginative album from what’s still a promising group. At best, this sophomore project suggests a band pushing itself in every direction and through every crevice of the genre to see what fits them and their messaging most effectively.
While tunes and originality are lacking, their subsequent dislocation makes for some thrilling music.
For their sophomore release, Shame delivers a passionate but derivative set of post-punk ragers.
While Shame’s second album, Drunk Tank Pink, isn’t their minimalistic ambient record, there is nonetheless music here that takes the band’s usual ferocity down a few notches.
Despite not venturing too far away from the typical post-punk formula and definitely being a bit inspired by their contemporaries, Drunk Tank Pink is a great maturation for Shame, a band I previously saw to be a humdrum display of generic post-punk finally coming into their own.
Shame’s debut album, 'Songs of Praise', was an album that many loved, though I merely thought it was an average post-punk record. The album did very little to stick out in a sea of post-punk albums that already ... read more
Articulated around psychology and anxiety, Drunk Tank Pink is not only a successful second album, it's a consequent evolution for the London band. Shame's youngsters have grown up, now facing their demons through an intense and deep post punk.
In a corner of my head I still have this memory of the moment I first listened to Shame, it was precisely in January 2018 on the day of the release of Songs of Praise, which soon conquered me. A raw energy ready to explode that the band tries to contain ... read more
As someone who’s incredibly new to this genre of music, I’ve always been intrigued by it. From what I’ve heard, post-punk has some of the most interesting instrumentals I’ve ever listened to, and that’s in positive light. With it’s positive reception, I was quite engrossed by this album’s release. Just due to the high praise of both their debut, and now their sophomore album. After listening to this album, I did learn one thing… I’m a ... read more
Edit: I put it down one because I went too easy on some of the songs, but born in luton is a 10 now I was too scared too admit it
Man I just lost the whole review I gotta write it again. Ok pretty good album they haven’t quite gotten their thing down but the albums still really good there’s no songs I actively dislike but I think there’s more highlights on their next album which is heat I love food for worms. ok I’m gonna shortly review every song now
1. ... read more
1 | Alphabet 2:53 | 81 |
2 | Nigel Hitter 3:24 | 79 |
3 | Born in Luton 4:47 | 89 |
4 | March Day 3:11 | 82 |
5 | Water in the Well 3:07 | 82 |
6 | Snow Day 5:22 | 89 |
7 | Human, for a Minute 4:34 | 83 |
8 | Great Dog 1:57 | 76 |
9 | 6/1 2:34 | 82 |
10 | Harsh Degrees 3:09 | 78 |
11 | Station Wagon 6:39 | 82 |
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#29 | / | Far Out Magazine |
#31 | / | Rough Trade (UK) |
#33 | / | Les Inrocks |
#49 | / | RIFF |