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Here's where we find out which albums the DJs on The North 1033's student-run program Road Salt Radio are excited about each week!

Road Salt Radio Featured Album of the Week: Shame

An illustration of a person in a dark blue wet suit with orange polka dots standing hip-deep in a body of water with arms raised and a smile. Behind them are three other people also wearing dark blue wet suits with orange polka dots that also cover their faces, leaving just their eyes showing. Above their heads is a large orange crescent moon and many orange stars against a black sky. Within the crescent it says shame in orange lettering.

U.K.-based post-punk outfit Shame are back with their 3rd studio album, Food for Worms. Self-described by the band as the “Lamborghini of Shame records,” it certainly lives up to that name. Food for Worms takes the best aspects of the youthful energy of their debu, Songs of Praise, the angular instrumentation of their sophomore release, Drunk Tank Pink, and expands and improves upon it, easily making it Shame’s finest work yet.

Frontman Charlie Steen’s lyrics have a more mature and self reflective nature compared to past albums. Each song is a reflection of some sort on friendships, relationships, and oneself. This is seen perfectly in the tracks “Fingers of Steel” and “Adderall”, both songs about watching a close friend waste away, and easily two of the best tracks on the album. While Food for Worms is more mellow compared to past Shame releases, tracks like “Six-Pack,” “The Fall of Paul," and “Alibis,” the last being a personal favorite of mine, are still chock full of the high-energy, blistering guitars, and noise that Shame are famous for.

Shame’s songwriting has also matured. The songs on Food for Worms have a greater sense of melody compared to the complex writing and odd rhythms of Drunk Tank Pink. Vocalist Charlie Steen abandons his talk-singing and yelling, instead opting to sing more melodically on thus album; Steen had actually hired a voice coach for this. This is also the first Shame album to be recorded fully live. The band stated this helped them get out of a creative rut after their last album and better captured what they sound like live in concert. It’s clear that this worked, as Food for Worms contains Shame’s most compelling songs yet.

Curious about what the “Lamborghini of Shame records” entails? Make sure to tune in this week to Road Salt Radio after 9:00pm to find out for yourself.

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