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Every so often, an artist stops you right in your tracks. By this point, you may have already heard previous works, but you may not have thought things would ever get to this point. While the music may have allowed the group to run amok across your senses, the drama surrounding the music never inflicted as much damage as it has now. I mean, especially now at this stage of a group\u2019s career, through multiple full-length releases.<\/p>\n
While the band has had some downtime since its last release, the U.K.\u2019s Shame<\/strong> has become thoroughly adept with its instruments, and it shows on the new Cutthroat<\/strong><\/em>. And while vocalist Charlie Steen may downplay his own skill as the band\u2019s lead, well, it\u2019s a tricky thing having a deadpan sung-spoken delivery, but come on, stop. You\u2019re not fooling anyone. But this isn\u2019t just about Steen here, with both Eddie Green and Sean Coyle-Smith handle guitars, Joh Finerty is on bass, and Charlie Forbes pounding away at his drums. Shame rolls right through \u201cTo And Fro\u201d and it doesn\u2019t get any more captivating than this. Steen claims \u201cAnd I don\u2019t need to be clever to see what\u2019s going on \/ I ain\u2019t got a good voice but that don\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t mean what I say in a song\u201d and I call bullshit. Even when he hits the chorus, he knows how to utilize his pitch perfectly. I\u2019m ruminating around \u201cPlaster,\u201d where we find the band playing at a mid-tempo pace, and Steen delivering his spoken vocal delivery opening with his prose, \u201cWhen you fucked your boyfriend\u2019s best friend just to see who felt better \/ You know life ain\u2019t half as good when you\u2019re living being clever\u2026\u201d Yes, Steen is a wordsmith, but that\u2019s only part of it here. When the band transitions over to its chorus, Steen capitalizes on the melodies guitars churn out, singing along, showing everyone he does have much more to offer.<\/p>\n Of course Shame will find itself tossed in with comparisons to Mark E. Smith and maybe even the Fall, but the band is well-versed in capitalizing on its melodies, adding in things that I don\u2019t recall the group utilizing much in the past. Throughout the Americana-tinged \u201cSpartak,\u201d Shame casts a small shadow of piano laying underneath the track, and guitarist Coyle-Smith was forthcoming with his attempt at writing a Wilco song. It may not be a Jeff Tweedy track, but damn it, if it isn\u2019t an amazing song. It\u2019s a shift in Shame\u2019s songwriting, but shouldn\u2019t be neglected or ignored. Here, the band is spirited with an energy we haven\u2019t heard before. But I have to backtrack because it\u2019s the things Shame was originally known for that made it so entertaining. The album\u2019s title track explodes right off the album with its thunderous rhythm as guitars reverberate around it. The bass guitar rumbles as Forbes is focused, pounding away. Yeah, Shame doesn\u2019t shy away from throwing things into overdrive. But it\u2019s \u201cCowards Around\u201d where the group isn\u2019t afraid to say how they really feel, right over a fast and furious rhythm. There are cowards all around the group, and while they don\u2019t call them by name, we all know who they are in our daily lives. With \u201cNothing Better,\u201d \u00a0it opens with dissonant notes over a frantic rhythm that allows the songs melody to rise to the surface while Steen sings about the daily grind; rise, do, sleep, repeat. This is where the band completely cuts loose, and the backing cooed harmonies are fantastic ear candy. Sure the band is English, but that doesn\u2019t stop them from singing in Portuguese. With \u201cLampi\u00e3o,\u201d the name given to\u00a0Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, a famed Brazilian bandit, the band offers some history, filled with odd percussion and backing harmonies. Steen sings about Lampi\u00e3o\u2019s brutal death after being captured, but it\u2019s the Portuguese vocals that are quite captivating. This is different, but yeah, so worth it.<\/p>\n Just when you thought you knew exactly what you were getting into with Shame, the band surprises with an album that keeps you guessing. Cutthroat<\/em> is the standout this year that\u2019s sure to top everyone\u2019s lists because it\u2019s just that good. Or amazing. You decide.<\/p>\n