Shame - Drunk Tank Pink (Album review)
Thankfully, I think Drunk Tank Pink is for the most part a
better album than Songs of Praise. Featuring a more varied selection of tracks,
Drunk Tank Pink is a lot less one note and you can see the band are at least
trying to develop their sound to an extent. Drunk Tank Pink is sadly still guilty
of the same issues the debut had, Shame are still wearing their influences very
much on their own sleeve, though this time they have a new selection of bands
to imitate. The album at times is more a homage towards the artists that they
are visibly imitating than an album of original material. That being said, most
of the tracks on Drunk Tank Pink are pretty well written and performance wise
the band is really putting everything they have into the music.
The album opens with the track Alphabet which is a fairly
solid catchy punk track; it’s pretty aggressive and similar to something you’d
hear on the band’s debut. Alphabet is also one of a couple of tracks on the
album where if someone put it on and told me this was an IDLES track I’d
completely believe them; honestly the resemblance is pretty uncanny. It’s a
decent song but kind of uninspiring in the grand scheme of it all.
The second track Nigel Hitter is a very classic post punk
sounding song, clunky and fun this is very similar to something Gang of Four or
Television might have put out back in the day. I don’t think this song is breaking
any major new ground but it’s the first occasion we see Shame really change up
their sound with something more refreshing.
Born in Luton is an ambitious, groovy but quite cluttered
track. There’s quite a lot going on in this one, it’s got a pretty memorable
slow and pained chorus with an emotional vocal performance. This is the kind of
song that would be right up your street if you’re a fan of Shame but I find it
to be a bit of a mess and excessive.
At around the albums halfway mark is the track Snow Day,
honestly I adore this song, it’s creative and ambitious in all the right ways
with elements of spoken word and an intense breakdown in the middle of the
track. If I had to pick a fault with the song I’d say it sounds a little too
much like a song Black Midi would put out but the writing is so good that I can
forgive it. I also would like to draw attention to the incredible drumming that
features on here.
Next comes the track Human, for a Minute. It’s slower and
groovier than most of the albums songs and even though it’s not one of the
stronger tracks on the album it definitely changes the pace up well and settles
things down after the manic energy of Snow Day.
6/1 is a surprising banger that’s hidden away towards the
end of Drunk Tank Pink; it’s got some cool distorted vocals and sounds almost
like a mash up of the styles on the bands two albums. Again this song has a
slight Black Midi vibe to it but the menacing guitars and incredible ferocious
energy from the whole band make it easy for me to look past it.
The album ends with the track Station Wagon; this is a more
experimental cut and a great fit for the end of the album. I think the first
half of this track is a lot more interesting than the second with the first leg
of song being quite intimate and timid and the second half being a slow build
up to a really noisy finish. When the song does eventually hit its peak, it’s a
pretty intense blast of noise with my biggest criticism here being that it’s
over way too quick.
I was hoping that Drunk Tank Pink would help Shame establish
their sound without the obvious pressure that a band would face when releasing
their debut but instead the album leans far too hard on replicating the music
of many of the bands peers. That being said it’s good to see that the band is
changing up their sound even if what they’re doing is fairly derivative. There
are enjoyable tracks on this one and not many that really stand out as filler
or duds hidden amongst the track list. Overall, on Drunk Tank Pink, Shame didn’t
exactly reinvent the wheel but they did release a pretty solid post punk album.
Best tracks – Snow Day, 6/1, March Day
Worst tracks – Harsh Degrees, Born in Luton
63/100
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