Food For Worms. Shame

With 'Songs Of Praise' Shame entered my life with a bang. Actually, it was the first album by a band the press had identified as post punk I really liked. Many would follow. Shame paved the way alright. With Food For Worms the band has released its third album. It consolidates its position with ease.

Food For Worms is an album with a few faces but I, contradictory to the band's wishes, can live with the post punk moniker. Being my age, this music has nothing to do with rock and roll, as Charlie Steen would like to have it called. Except for the following. Rock and roll stood for excitement and that is exactly what Food For Worms delivers. Far more than second album 'Drunk Tank Pink' did. The difficult second album in hindsight it was for Shame. Not bad, but somewhat forced in sound.

Food For Worms is all but forced. In an interview in NRC I read that the band's management had booked a venue, sold tickets and told the band to come up with new songs in three weeks' time. The pressure cooker worked and what we hear is the result of that limited work period; in 2021! Yes, quite some time ago.

On its new album Shame, again, found its way back to writing alternative rock songs, with riffs that are impossible to find in a top 40 hit song, yet have a strong melodic base. Singing along to these new songs is sheer fun. Like they were on 'Songs Of Praise' and harder on 'Drunk Tank Pink'. Listen a little deeper and you will spot the keen ear for detail the band has. The harmony and backing vocals, the oohs, the layers of guitar melodies, a piano hidden somewhere in these layers.

'Six-Pack' lends a little from the Chili Peppers' take on Stevie Wonder's 'Higher Ground'. Talking about sharing energy with your audience. 'Six-Pack' is going to make all festival fields explode this summer. This song is "a fucking winner", to quote Charlie Steen himself. The guitarists are like the proverbial frogs in a bucket. They are all over the place and once the song explodes, even more. This song is an impregnable tower.

Shame has the good sense to not have the pedal to the metal the whole time. It uses dynamics and restraint to make the explosions far more noticeable. I love the way 'Yankees' is built up. The bass part that gets a solo moment in the mix supporting the singing before the band as a whole goes for it in the chorus. This is arranging in alternative rock land. And, let's face it. These modern bands are so much better at it than the postpunk bands of the 1980s. In my book there's no comparison. A band like Shame takes the best of both worlds, early 1980s and everything after. So, I'll allow Charlie Steen rock and roll.

Food For Worms is a strong album. Whether I will like it as much as 'Songs Of Praise' only time can tell. After a week of playing the album two things are clear. This is the first album I'm going to buy next. My first impression of it is, a four star album minimum. We are off to a great start. For 2023 as a whole as well. I'm losing count of truly good albums released this year already. Add one more.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Food For Worms here:

https://shamebanduk.bandcamp.com/album/food-for-worms