shame

Following in the unflinching footsteps of musicians and writers such as the Fall, Television Personalities, and Irvine Welsh, Shame combine keen-eyed observations with a willingness to challenge themselves and their audience. Among the first in the wave of U.K. bands reinterpreting post-punk for the late 2010s and early 2020s, the South London band’s bracing 2018 debut album, Songs of Praise — which they recorded when they were barely in their twenties — bridged the personal and political with wit and fury. Shame broadened their horizons with 2021′s Drunk Tank Pink, which explored the louder and softer sides of their music while flirting with dance-punk and highlife; on 2023′s Food for Worms, they took their barreling energy in even wider-ranging directions without losing their intensity.
South London’s brash post-punk outfit Shame follow in the footsteps of unflinching musicians and writers such as the Fall, Television Personalities, and Irvine Welsh. On their bracing 2018 debut album, Songs of Praise — which they recorded when they were barely in their twenties — and 2021′s frenetic Drunk Tank Pink, they bridged the personal and political with wit and fury.
Vocalist Charlie Steen, guitarists Sean Coyle-Smith and Eddie Green, bassist Josh Finerty, and drummer Charlie Forbes met in school and formed Shame in 2014 while still in their teens. A family connection led the quintet to practice at the Queen’s Head, a gritty Brixton pub that was also home to Fat White Family. Gigs with that band, the Garden, and Slaves led to an appearance at 2016′s Pitchfork Music Festival Paris. Later that year, Shame tapped Dan Foat and Nathan Boddy to record their debut single, “The Lick/Gold Hole,” which Fnord Communications released later that year. After signing with Dead Oceans, the group reunited with Foat and Boddy on their next single, March 2017′s “Tasteless.” Two more singles, “Concrete” and “Visa Vulture,” a commentary on Prime Minister Theresa May’s stance on immigration, appeared before the release of Shame’s debut album.
Recorded with Foat and Boddy in ten days, Songs of Praise arrived on Dead Oceans in January 2018. The record’s snarling update of post-punk met with critical acclaim and peaked at number 32 on the U.K. Albums Chart. When the band finished touring in support of Songs of Praise, they began work on their next album, with Coyle-Smith taking inspiration from Talking Heads, ESG, and Nigerian highlife music and Steen using the ups and downs of life after their success as fodder for his lyrics. Recorded with producer James Ford, Drunk Tank Pink — named after the color used to calm aggressively inebriated prisoners — arrived in January 2021 and offered a louder and more ambitious version of Shame’s music. The album was a Top 10 hit in the U.K., and Shame supported it by touring with Foals and with dates in the U.S. Late in the year, the band released a pair of singles: November’s “This Side of the Sun” and December’s holiday-themed “Baldur’s Gate.” Both songs reflected a more melodic and experimental approach that continued on Shame’s third album, February 2023′s Food for Worms. Working with producer Flood, the band recorded each track live and looked to the work of Lou Reed, Merchandise, and Blumfeld to inspire their freewheeling approach. ~ Heather Phares