The trajectories of Shame, from London, and Fontaines D.C., from Dublin, seem similar. And, like those Irish rockers, Shame have invested a lot of their time in their second album even if the end product seems less compelling than the earlier material. Sure, there's energy galore on Drunk Tank Pink, out now via Dead Oceans, but it's unfocused, and diffuse to the point of losing meaning. That said, there is some compelling stuff here still.
Opener "Snow Day" is probably one of my favorite Shame tracks to date. I had hopes that the rest of Drunk Tank Pink would be just as precise and deadly, but it didn't seem to be for me. "Nigel Hitler", presumably about politician Nigel Farage is okay, but "Born in Luton" is The Fall at their very worst and most lugubrious. Unfocused and plodding, this was a miss for me. Elsewhere, "Water in the Well" is reminiscent of Ian Dury and The Blockheads so that's good, while "Human, for A Mind" is moody and unsettling. "March Day" suggests something better, a neat, rough updating of what Franz Ferdinand came out of the gate doing, but, really, Shame should be more potent than they are.
You've heard most of what's here before, decades ago. I think back to bands like Earl Brutus and The Pop Group and realize that music like this can be pointed and a bit dangerous. As it is, for whatever success Shame achieve here, it feels like an approximation of someone else's high points. Drunk Tank Pink is fiery and energetic, but I'd have preferred something sharply focused and deadlier.
Drunk Tank Pink is out now via Dead Oceans.
More details on Shame via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Sam Gregg]