I got the Rough Trade Album Of The Month pink vinyl version, so I though I might as well show you because I probably won’t make a standalone post on it:
Is it too early to call Album Of the year?
Songs of shame is full of absolute bangers. From One Rizla to Concrete to Tastless to Gold Hole, basically every track could pass as the best track. This album combines elements of classic punk, post punk and modern indie rock into a melting pot of shouting and ringing guitar leads. The band also show more promise than just your average punk band, with the 7 minute closer “Angie” which shows a more lyrical angle to this band. Let’s not forget that this is the band’s debut as well!
And while it may not have the raw energy or tempo of traditional punk, it still manages to be brash while having more complexity than you would imagine, which actually plays to their strengths to be honest.
The guitar leads are somewhat reminiscent of the Clash, especially on One Rizla, the lead-off single, with the high pitched guitar lead on top of the power chords that makes it probably the best song of the album. I’m linking it at the end of the post, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Rating: 9/10
Best track: One Rizla
Worst track: There isn’t one. They’re all amazing.
P.S. This band also have amazing taste. I saw a video where they were buying vinyl and they got Nas, Charles Bradley, Herbie Hancock and a whole lot more.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The culture club 
I love this review and thanks for the link – not sure why you only rated it 9/10 when you think it might be the best album of the coming year…?
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Well I’m probably not expecting a 10/10 album this year. My rating after a couple more listens is 9.5.
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This is a great review! Well-written and concise, it tells the reader a lot about the album without a lot of verbage. I need to try and write my reviews more like this.
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Thanks so much!
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I enjoyed the album and saw them do a fantastic in-store at Rough Trade East. A month on though and I’m not playing it quite as much as I thought I would. Very good but not sure it is quite the album of the year. The band are incredibly impressive though – very much worth checking out live.
Here’s my write up on it. I write about every Rough Trade album of the month which you might enjoy if you are a subscriber too.
Nice writing – well done:
https://blackcountryrock.co/2018/01/27/rough-trade-album-of-the-month-january-2018-shame-songs-of-praise-rough-trade-east-11-january/
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It’s a great review! I would probably agree, apart from One Rizla I probably won’t spend too much time with the album and I was probably exaggerating with the title of album of the year. Anyway, thanks for checking my review out!
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