It has been said many times - do not judge a book by its cover - and many times the saying turned out to be valid. In the same manner, you should not judge an album by its cover, especially If we are talking about Songs of Praise by a British post-punk band Shame. On the cover, we can see a bunch of post-teenage boys who are holding cubs in their hands. And while it is great that these boys love animals, the first impression is that they only think about football, alcohol, girls and similar juvenile hogwash. What can these boys offer besides to evoke memories on this period of your life?
Band emerged on the music scene of South London, in Brixton, a place of cultural diversity, underground geniuses, and religious and national conflicts. It is a birthplace of The Clash and Gang of Four. The space in which they have practiced is a famous Brixton pub The Queen's Head, which they shared with some other young hopes of the UK scene including Goat Girl, HMLTD and Dead Pretties.
The opening number Dust on Trial hits you in the plexus with its power. It leaves you breathless until the end of the record. Rhythm section of Charlie Forbes and Josh Finerty, tensed, screaming guitars of Eddie Green and Sean Coyle Smith and angsty vocal of Charlie Steen channel frustration, anxiety and misery that rises in a young man when he realizes the world he lives in is far from fair.
We can easily perceive Shame as jokesters, since their verses are a cocktail of cynicism, satire and irony. The influences of The Fall, Nick Cave and Jarvis Cooker are more than obvious and none of this previously written can be read from their album cover. Don't you agree?
