Dead Oceans US Vinilo y CD

Review: Five years after their debut album made big moves back in 2018, and two after its successor Drunk Tank Pink re-invented them as proper highbrow new wavers, Shame are back with their third Food For Worms. It's tinged with a certain sense of morbidity but also looks outwards and tries to celebrate life. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," said frontman Charlie Sheen of the writing process. He also declares this to be "the Lamborghini of Shame records" and we are inclined to agree. Fuelled by a love of playing live, this record is one of the fast the band has ever written and so brims with vitality and energy as they cast out their post-punk roots in favour of a more eclectic sound. And what a great result.

Review: Back with a bang and their third album, essential UK post-punk band shame are reaching something of a new maturity on Food For Worms, matching their cacophonous noise-wreaking skills with a sharper instinct for melody and structure. The music remains lithe and urgent, but there's a sense they know exactly what they're doing on this record, building on the promise of 2021's Drunk Tank Pink and 2018 debut Songs Of Praise. With this new-found focus come towering monoliths of tracks which bristle with the excitement of music captured in the moment - a proper band with something to say, musically, lyrically and artistically.