Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. The weather is getting nice where I live, and this next record was a welcome “take the top down” selection for those with convertibles. For those of you without convertibles, maybe you have a sunroof or something. Or just roll the windows down. Do you.
Disc 1931 is…Cutthroat
Artist: Shame
Year of Release: 2025
What’s up with the Cover? A man rides a motorcycle inside a Wall of Death, which is the name of that carnival structure that lets you ride a motorcycle or car sideways and trust to centrifugal force to prevent you from falling.
These things date back to the 1920s, and I remember Elvis rode in one of these in the 1964 movie Roustabout. Apparently they still exist, but I bet the legal disclaimer you have to sign nowadays is way more exhaustive.
How I Came To Know It: The boring way. I read a review and thought it sounded like it might be in my wheelhouse. Turns out, it was.
How It Stacks Up: Shame has released four studio albums, but I only have the one so it can’t stack up.
Ratings: 4 stars
Wanna party with the disaffected kids, make fun of norms and dance when most people are sleeping? Then “Cutthroat” is a record with the vibe you need.
Shame is a British post-punk band that blend elements of eighties Goth, Lou Reed style punk rock and a little Blur/Gorillaz to make it all danceable. I sense they’re minor celebs in England but less so on this side of the Pond. As with all things, I could care less where it is popular – the test is, is it any good?
Yes, it is and while the record is a mix of solid club bangers and songs that could rightly be considered filler, even the filler is pretty fun for an afternoon drive with the convertible top down.
Things start solidly with the title track, which only vaguely relates to people who cut throats, and in no way relevant to the species of trout with the same name. It seems instead to be about people having fun with little regard for the consequences. The song cleverly straddles the line of how fun it is to do what you want, and how this can – when taken to the extreme – be selfish and empty. The extra layer of clever is how goddamn catchy it is, as you sing along to “why does it hurt to feel so numb?” but the more fervently you lean in and dance, the more ironic things get.
The band does a fine job of disaffection, with songs like “Cowards Around”, which is a long list of ‘cowards’ that is so expansive you are left thinking that it is the narrator with the problem. Sort of like that person who always has a problem with their boss, their friends, or the local barista. Where they don’t seem to realize the one common denominator in all their bad reactions is them. Again, the song lets the subtext linger beneath the surface of a tune that invites you to sing along with all the imagined grievances.
Most of the time, however, you’re just going to enjoy the groove, which is significant. Singer Charlie Steen (not Sheen, Steen) has a gift for phrasing, which is a critical component of songs that sit solidly in the pocket as much as these do. He also does a fine spoken word style approach on songs like “Coward’s Around” and “Lampiao” that is very “cool kid with hair in eyes tells story”.
“Lampiao” is based on a real-life Brazilian bandit from the early twentieth century, with the band bringing some Latin rhythms in, but converted to their own unique punk/groove vibe. While the way Steen (not Sheen) delivers his vocals here is more important than the actual words, I loved this section and how it paints the romanticized portrait of the bandit:
“The governor of the backlands
Sailor of the black sands
With a fillet knife and a strong hand”
Not every song has the same level of literary achievement, but even the boring ones make for good dance numbers. Late in the record “After Party” alerts us that there will be festivities after the show, and that’s the vibe of “Cutthroat” throughout. Listening makes you feel like you’re one of the cool counterculture kids, staying out later than you should, into the early hours of the morning where all the most interesting and dangerous things are bound to happen.
Writing a record that drives you to both carefree fun and the deeper ramifications of that kind of fun is not an easy space to occupy. Shame does a fine job of it and makes me keen to explore their back catalogue.
Best tracks: Cutthroat, Cowards Around, Nothing Better, Lampiao, After Party
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