Cutthroat. Shame

Four albums into its career, I'd say that Shame has nothing to be ashamed about. With one heck of a debut album, a difficult second, a far better third and a great fourth the band has proven itself beyond a doubt.

With 'Songs Of Praise' the band entered my life with a bang. For certain three quarters of the album were spot on songs. With Cutthroat the band repeats that achievement. Let me state upfront that Cutthroat is Shame's best album since 'Songs Of Praise' and may be(come) its best.

The album kicks off with the title song and one of the singles. It starts with an as simple as it is effective riff. Bang!, here we go it says. 'Cutthroat' shows you already what the next step in Shame's career is. After the first two listening sessions I planned to start my review with the conclusion that Shame has not developed itself like a band like Fontaines DC has in roughly the same period. The conclusion is wrong though, as consecutive sessions with the record taught me.

The change is already announced after five seconds into the album when a few electronic keys notes interrupt that riff. All through 'Cutthroat' there are other tell-tale signs. The relaxation in Charlie Steen's voice is another. Next, there's some adventurism in the guitar playing that go down very well with me. All together it makes for a monumental opening song. If you can't stand it, there is not a lot of sense in pursuing listening to this album.

When 'Cowards Around' starts with a drum intro giving a tip of the hat to John Bonham's intro to 'Rock And Roll', not a lot seems to be able to go wrong from that moment onwards. And it hardly does. 'Cowards Around' is a more classic postpunk track. Energy flies around and the vocal delivery is nicely in line with The Netherlands' finest Lukas Jansen of Tramhaus.

Photo: Jamie Wdziekonski

Cutthroat diversifies with song three, 'Quiet Life', starting with an acoustic guitar. Charlie Steen is singing about living a quiet life that he never imagined wanting to have. (It's probably a part of growing up.) The song has loads of energy showing that a band like Shame is able to play a slightly different kind of song without losing anything of it stride, while adding a ton of melody. If The Kinks were a young band today, they may have sounded like this in 2025. 'Quiet Life' is a highlight of this album.

I'm not going to go into every individual song. With this album Shame makes a giant point. Nearly all songs, that leaves 'Lampião', although it has it's moments, I do not really know what to make of it, reach a high to very high level. Shame manages to maintain that level of energy that it is known for, while diversifying it's musical range. As if letting go of the prescribed boundaries of postpunk has opened the creative dams of the band members' imagination and creativity. More is happening, more exciting things, more (background and vocal) melodies and more inventive interludes. Cutthroat is an album that, despite its ugly title, makes me feel very good.

It all ends with 'Axis Of Evil'. With this song Shame dives deeper into the 1980s and releases its inner Franz Ferdinand. The song leans on electronics and a pulsing rhythm. It is a surprising as it is a good end of the album. With Cutthroat Shame delivers well beyond expectations.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Cutthroat here:

https://shamebanduk.bandcamp.com/album/cutthroat