Shame : Drunk Tank Pink (Ltd Galaxy Pink Vinyl)

There are moments on Drunk Tank Pink where you almost have to reach for the sleeve to check this is the same band who made 2018s Songs Of Praise. Such is the jump Shame

have made from the riotous post-punk of their debut to the sprawling adventurism and twitching anxieties laid out here. The South Londoners blood and guts spirit, that wink and grin of devious charm, is still present, its just that its grown into something bigger, something deeper, more ambitious and unflinchingly honest.

The genius of Drunk Tank Pink is how these lyrical themes dovetail with the music. Opener Alphabet dissects the premise of performance over a siren call of nervous, jerking guitars, its chorus thrown out like a beer bottle across a mosh pit. Songs spin off and lurch into unexpected directions throughout here, be it March Days escalating aural panic attack or the shapeshifting darkness of Snow Day. Theres a Berlin era Bowie
beauty to the lovelor