Shame - Food for Worms (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/88]

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Shame - Food for Worms (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/88]

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Debuting in 2018 as the UK's new angry young men, Shame was at once a breath of fresh air and a kick in the teeth: an awesome guitar band that didn't care a whit about the winking irony of Britpop and railed against Brexit, Teresa May, selling out and more. The group's second outing, 2021's Drunk Tank Pink, was incredibly ambitious—and, at times, overly complicated. For the band's third album, Food for Worms, the intensity is still turned up, but they're allowing themselves room to breathe. There's a mature resolve to excellent first single "Fingers of Steel," which is both more melodic than anything they've ever done before and bears the thoughtful musical stamp of late '90s/early aughts post-hardcore bands like Braid, Burning Airlines and Hey Mercedes. Frontman Charlie Steen uses more of a singing than sing-song delivery to dispatch lyrics about overthinking your choices: "And you're wondering now (You're wondering now)/ About all the things that you could've done differently/ You keep retracing all of your steps so frequently/ Just let it lie, it never helps." Drummer Charlie Forbes has cited the dynamic shifts of the Pixies—"full of quiet to loud explosions"—as a source of inspiration this time around. You can especially hear it on songs like "Orchid," which explodes from deadpan vocals into full-on musical fury, and "Burning By Design," with Forbes gunning things to a pedal-to-the-metal pace and Steen issuing a triumphant statement of independence ("I don't care about the songs that use these chords/ I am sure there's plenty more/ But I know they're not the same"). The album is produced by Flood (U2, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds), who brings a clarity and crispness to the simple majesty of "Adderall," which builds to a full-on rage against the pain caused by the addictive stimulant. (Phoebe Bridgers contributes a vocal line, but Forbes has admitted "you can't actually hear" it.) The layered vocals of "Yankees," an almost-ballad that straddles low-and-slow blues and art-punk, are Fugazi-esque, as are the needling guitar and breathless drumming of "Alibis." But noisy, busy "Six-Pack" goes a completely different direction, toward early Red Hot Chili Peppers crossed with skate punk; it's going to be a real love it or hate it moment for Shame fans. Closer "All the People," meanwhile, is stripped-down and pretty, with Steen urging listeners not to take their youth for granted: "All the people that you're gonna meet/ Don't you throw it all away because you can't love yourself." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz