Drunk Tank Pink
- Brand: Shame
- Product Code: Shame–DrunkTankPink
Regular Edition in Black Vinyl
Luckily for their fans, though, Shame seem to have resisted the temptation to change tack too much. On Drunk Tank Pink, singer Charlie Steen’s snarling vocal is as vital and fervent as ever, with plenty of the anthemic singalong moments they’re loved for. But their sound has doubtless been elevated, perhaps by a growth in confidence after the success of Songs of Praise. The guitars are just as turbulent, but their riffs are tighter and cleaner, particularly on recent single ‘Alphabet’, and the excellent, Television-esque ‘March Day’. There’s no shortage of chaotic, moshpit-ready breakdowns (‘Water In The Well’, ‘6/1’, ‘Great Dog’), but there are also moments of calm, vulnerability, like the appropriately titled ‘Human, For A Minute’. “I’m half the man I should be,” mutters Steen over a slow, sultry bassline, calling to mind a less cocksure Baxter Dury. Album closer ‘Station Wagon’ is the best thing they’ve ever written; a track on which Steen’s energy simmers to boiling point, initially masked by melodic piano and then unleashed along with a wall of reverb and crashing drums. With Drunk Tank Pink, Shame have achieved what many fail to: they’ve taken what works from their first album, and made it better. Despite the growing competition, it seems they might hold onto their title a little while longer.
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