Shame - Songs of Praise

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BleuPanda
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Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by BleuPanda »

There was some discussion earlier about how critics keep picking albums by artists they already love in their EOY lists...but I feel that's just the general trend of things wherever. So I figured, why not hightlight a debut album currently sitting at a 90 on Metacritic from some band I've never heard of until now? It feels like we only ever get album specific threads whenever it's a returning favorite, so maybe starting these specific discussions is the remedy?


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JohnnyBGoode
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Re: Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by JohnnyBGoode »

Loving the album. Second my nomination for One Rizla from before it came out on the AMF chart 18.01.
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JohnnyBGoode
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Re: Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by JohnnyBGoode »

Actually it appears I was already seconding Smithers Jones.
Smithers-Jones
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Re: Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by Smithers-Jones »

Really enjoyable album. One Rizla is definitely the highlight, but The Lick and Friction are great as well. Solid debut 8/10.
luvulongTIM
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Re: Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by luvulongTIM »

Here came Pitchfork ruining their glowing 89 score and spoiling it for them. Not a terrible review but their second worst review out of the 14. What a shame ;) It might go at least up one number to 88 cause All Music who isn’t listed yet, gave them a 4 star review.
Gillingham
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Re: Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by Gillingham »

Great idea Bleu. Looking forward to discovering some interesting, slighty under the radar, releases this year. Will give 'Songs of Praise' a spin.
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Rob
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Re: Shame - Songs of Praise

Post by Rob »

Yesterday I saw Shame live in my hometown, in a sold-out venue. In preparation I listened to Songs of Praise a few more times. Here are some thoughts.

This is the type of album that the people over at Rate Your Music generally try to denounce with an enormous passion. The reason is that this is an album that falls completely in the general taste of Rate Your Music, but gets disqualified because it 1. is new and 2. has got some outside attention. As a side-note to this review: am I the only one who thinks that Rate Your Music has become somewhat the worst site to discover music of the last 5 years on, at least based on consensus?

Anyway, Songs of Praise definitely doesn't deserve to be called a work of great innovation, but it is prove that everything can gain worth if it is made with a clear passion. Because that is what Shame delivers here: these guys are really into their music and you can feel it. There is a bang here that can't be denied. These guys don't reinvent post-punk and they know it, but they also know how to relight the fire anew. This way almost every song becomes memorable and worth a listen. And another listen. And another one. If one new band could bring punk back to teenagers (which is not really going to happen I suspect), it's this one. These guys are fun, without feeling like sellouts to the punk ethos.

The same goes for the concert. I urge anyone to see them live. Lead guitarist Eddie Green does all kind of crazy jumps and performed other weird antics, but it didn't matter. You see, lead singer Charlie Steen upstaged him every step of the way. This is one of those great charismatic frontman that comes around every once in a while. If the album didn't convince you I think Steen live and in person will make clear why this band build such a reputation quickly. Live Shame is magnetic, maybe in a way that lends a lot from forefathers like Iggy Pop, but it is good to see somebody young being able to carry the torch forward with such naturalness. We need performers like this.

Finally, I hope that songs like One Rizla, The Lick and Tastless show up on many end-of-year lists.
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