I'm not going to write the band Shame's name with a lower-case "s" because it's unnecessarily complicated for the purposes of a review. That affectation, and the swearing and hip hop elements of opener "Cuthroat" from Shame indicate we are in for what the young band must think it will be a wild ride. Probably not.
The degree to which Shame succeed for a listener is based largely on how much other stuff you've already heard that tries to do something like this. Anyone familiar with The Streets, XTRMNTR-era Primal Scream, or Kasabian isn't going to be floored by what's here. That said, some of this works very well. "Quiet Life", a modulated onslaught, shows that the mix of heart and ego that Fontaines, D.C. have done so well of late is not unique to that Irish lot. Elsewhere, "Nothing Better" revs up and roars off into the night. There's a little Kasabian here on this one, and on some of the other numbers with a similar approach, though that can be read as a compliment or an insult, I suppose. "Spartak", a real winner for me, is catchy, brash, and loaded with the sort of insouciance that propelled the first Oasis sides to the top of the charts.
On the numbers which are likely to be the most popular here from Shame in 2025, it sounds to this reviewer like the band is trying way too hard to be hard. On the selections where there's more melody, and a little musical invention at work, like "Plaster" and the spry "To and Fro", the group is far more appealing. There is even a slight New Wave of New Wave-vibe creeping through some of this, enough that you could put a couple of these on a mix next to These Animal Men singles. Shame do a lot of things right on Cutthroat, and here's hoping that listeners spend some time with this and find those gems for themselves.
Cutthroat by Shame is out now via Dead Oceans.
[Photo: Jamie Wdziekonski]