Modern angst successfully blends with gritty rock - DRUNK TANK PINK - SHAME ALBUM REVIEW

Shame's second album Drunk Tank Pink is as indie punk as it comes, but presents itself in new and innovative ways that'll make this album unlike anything else you've heard before.

The album is a mix of borderline comedy and cold truths about the lifestyle we're living today. Although it doesn't sound like it from the hardcore well-constructed medley of instruments, once you read into the lyrics it's clear this album is a lonely lockdown album at its heart.

Throughout Drunk Tank Pink you can find a serious mix of influences and sounds, it would be difficult to find a genre or sound that doesn't feature even a little bit at some point in the wide range of tracks. There's a clear inspiration from all classic 80s music genres, ranging from David Bowie to underground punk. You see a lot of artists bringing the 80s back, but Shame have taken just a slight hint of the 80s and thoroughly modernized it and made it their very own.

With the vocals bordering on spoken word throughout Drunk Tank Pink, there are moments when the tracks almost feel like poetry. This mix of speaking and gruff singing adds to the chaotic energy presented by the album.

However, don't let this description of chaos lead you to believe that this album isn't carefully mastered. Everything has its place, even if it isn't the place you'd expect it. The band clearly has perfected the idea of pushing their limits far, but not so far that quality deteriorates.

Stand out tracks are 'Snow Day' and 'Human for a Minute', which comes one after the other in the running order. 

'Snow Day' is an epic 5 minute plus song which a perfect exemplar of some tracks on Drunk-Tank Pink feeling like spoken word. The emotion within the vocals and the lyrics are thoroughly felt, which is then caught up to with angry instrumentals around the 2-minute mark. 

'Human, for a Minute', in comparison, is a slower and more melancholy track. begins with a hearty guitar riff, which leads into low and comparatively mellow vocals in comparison to other tracks on the album. There's something quite haunting about the track, which could be fed in to by the nature of the lyrics 'I've never felt human' repeated, or perhaps the echo of the backing vocals. However, throughout the tracks, there are also hints of borderline synth sounds that take you by surprise. Overall, it's a real listening experience, much like the rest of the album.

There is no other album quite like Drunk Tank Think, and that's quite an achievement in the year of 2021. Shame dive away from the curve and made something that is not only truly original but also an evolution from their debut album Songs of Praise. Although the past few paragraphs have made an attempt at describing Drunk Tank Pink, there really is no good way of expressing what it's like to listen to this album - you'll just have to listen and experience it yourself.

4/5 STARS