Overview

shame
Songs of Praise

Must Hear Album

Critic Score

Based on 24 reviews

2018 Ratings: #49 / 831

Year End Rank: #31

User Score

Based on 626 ratings

2018 Ratings: #123

Liked by 15 people

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January 12, 2018 / Release Date

LP / Format

Dead Oceans / Label

Post-Punk, Indie Rock / Genres

CRITIC REVIEWS

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100

Well, the London five-piece is audibly indebted to Smith’s revered Manchester post-punk group The Fall – louche vocal delivery, abrasive and atonal guitar and barbed lyrics all present and correct – but debut album ‘Songs Of Praise’ courses with venom and a lithe vigour that is all their own.

100

Shame shout louder than anyone else at the moment, and make a claim to become Britain’s best new band.

100

Songs Of Praise distils the best features of classic British alternative music into a vital band passionate to enervate, communicate and entertain.

100

It’s an album to click play on again and again, every time struck by its sheer strength. ’Songs Of Praise’ shouldn’t just be an essential listen for 2018, but one that’ll be looked back on as a moment where things changed.

100

8mo

In context and execution, ‘Songs Of Praise’ is one of the most daring, scorching, seethingly intelligent, and at times downright funny British guitar albums to come our way in years.

Whip smart, furious and, most importantly, fun, Songs of Praise is the first essential album of 2018. And what an album it is.

6mo

What sets these lads apart is their beyond-their-years songwriting, riotous live shows (they were once fined for ripping a chandelier from the ceiling) and frontman Charlie Steen’s arresting vocals.

For all their exuberant diving into the furrows of British rock history, Shame feel like a band searching rather than one that’s lost. They’re a young bunch, but a politically engaged, angry, wise lot, smart enough to not overthink something as instinctive and fun as your first album. It works because they’re so convincing in each of their furious explorations.

There’s ... seething post-punk that recalls early Fugazi, and the lyrics – full of blood, spunk and dirt – are far too jaded and contradictory to make for easy indie-disco fodder.

Whether they're sophisticated or visceral, Shame's energy and confidence makes Songs of Praise an exciting debut from one of the most vital-sounding British rock bands of the late 2010s.

No Brit-band is better equipped to set 2018 alight.

Songs of Praise is a treat from start to finish, each song is intricately stitched together providing the perfect narrative to your Saturday night stumbling. Or any time of the week for that matter.

Songs of Praise is a modern, sneering punk explosion that adds up to more than a sum of its parts.

Northern Transmissions

Both sonically and lyrically, the quintet’s primary outing encapsulates a fresh vigour but one that’s not naïve, despite the band’s tender age (the five members are either 20 or 21), Shame attack each song with a triumphant stance but one that’s not rose tinted.

5mo

If Shame belong to a generation of mobilizing British refuseniks teetering on an uprising, Songs of Praise is its soundtrack, whistling like a kettle coming to the boil.

They’re certainly lads, and they certainly rock, but Songs Of Praise is much more about self-expression and determination, and doesn’t look for any kind of gratification – it just sounds like a bunch of young men looking to blow off steam, and that is what makes it such an enjoyable romp.

The sound of this album can fairly be described as manic, frustrated, or even thrashing but throughout there is an ease and listenability which speaks to the confidence and talent that the band has as songwriters.

What makes this all powerful is just how musically accomplished Shame are, despite the high-anxiety relentlessness of their sonic gospel.

It is, ultimately, an unimaginative album from a promising band. Better records may lie ahead for them, but for now they will struggle to reach far beyond their existing fanbase.

Despite Shame’s lyrical foibles, they evince a prodigious adeptness for musicianship, and though Songs of Praise isn’t the most arresting debut by a garage band, there are far worse places to start.

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User Reviews

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moth alice

on their first LP, ‘songs of praise’, shame show themselves as a smart band, wise beyond their years. overall, debut is rather spectacular

“dust on trial” feels dark, like i’m inside a deep well and i cannot escape. its rhythmic advances are synchronized with the song’s structure to craft great energy. it’s minor key vibes translated into some discomfort within the music. this discomfort in itself is comforting, as the band completes its mission of ... read more

6d*

jules

FAVORITE TRACK: One Rizla

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Donk

I know it's only been four days, but I find myself falling more in love with the new shame record as the days go on. And, because of that, it's sparked a new interest in listening to this record again. I liked a few songs off of this over the years but this is the first time since then I'm taking a seat and listening to this in full to review it.

Songs of Praise is a gritty, more intense sounding record. There's these kinda scary vocals ... read more

MasterCrackfox

Since its release at the beginning of 2018 all that Shame has done is grow on me more and more. There's something raw about their presentation and energy (seriously, go watch their performance on KEXP and tell me they don't bring the energy). However, the sound of their post-punk inspired aesthetic is so well refined that it's hard to believe this is a debut record.

At times the group can have an abrasive tone to their presentation, but at other times these just feel like hooky and easy to ... read more