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Jan 16, 2018Songs Of Praise distils the best features of classic British alternative music into a vital band passionate to enervate, communicate and entertain.
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Jan 11, 2018The power and ferocity with which they do so across the album--as well as its rollocking instrumentation and clear social conscience--makes it a triumph.
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Jan 9, 2018Debut album Songs Of Praise courses with venom and a lithe vigour that is all their own.
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Jan 5, 2018Tthis dark horse of a debut isn’t just vastly superior to most of the recycled indie landfill swilling around--it’s one of the most emotionally-charged guitar-based debuts to be unleashed over the past 12 months.
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Jan 12, 2018Whip smart, furious and, most importantly, fun, Songs of Praise is the first essential album of 2018. And what an album it is.
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Jan 9, 2018In context and execution, Songs Of Praise is one of the most daring, scorching, seethingly intelligent, and at times downright funny British guitar albums to come our way in years.
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Jan 8, 2018Delivered with a heavy dose of grit and honesty, there’s some teeth marks there, but not the whole bite. It makes for their own, unique brand of sociopolitics-lite, done with a nudge, a wink, and just enough of the unexpected.
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Feb 20, 2018Songs of Praise is a modern, sneering punk explosion that adds up to more than a sum of its parts.
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Jan 26, 2018Whether they're sophisticated or visceral, Shame's energy and confidence makes Songs of Praise an exciting debut from one of the most vital-sounding British rock bands of the late 2010s.
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Jan 16, 2018Songs Of Praise is an ambitious, ferocious debut from a band who might just have something new to say about being a (load of white men in a) guitar band.
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Jan 11, 2018There’s a Stone Roses-style naive melody on Friction, and Angie is the kind of epic that closed Britpop albums. But there’s also seething post-punk that recalls early Fugazi, and the lyrics--full of blood, spunk and dirt--are far too jaded and contradictory to make for easy indie-disco fodder.
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Q MagazineJan 5, 2018It's rarely an easy listen, but in among all the post-punk references lurks a soundtrack to 2018's looming global catastrophe that's urgent and compelling. [Feb 2018, p.113]
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MojoJan 5, 2018There's no escaping Steen's brutal vision, guitarists Eddie Green and Sean Coyle-Smith and Edge-like chimes to Concrete's verses, before the terrace chorus tilts the mood back to belligerent. No Brit band is better equipped to set 2018 alight. [Feb 2018, p.91]
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UncutJan 5, 2018Noisy but thoughtful, and frenzied but melodic. [Feb 2018, p.32]
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Jan 18, 2018It just sounds like a bunch of young men looking to blow off steam, and that is what makes it such an enjoyable romp.
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Jan 17, 2018It’s taut but it’s also a shambles; cramped and ready to rupture with the despair of five unruly lads.
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Jan 24, 2018There are a number of high points on this record, many of which consist of Steen repeating a line over and over, on the verge of strangling you for attention. There's also something refreshing about this level of antagonism to a dated idea of a rock star.
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Oct 5, 2018If the post-punk revival needs a poster child, Shame is a good choice.
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Feb 20, 2018Despite Shame’s lyrical foibles, they evince a prodigious adeptness for musicianship, and though Songs of Praise isn’t the most arresting debut by a garage band, there are far worse places to start.
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Jan 12, 2018It is, ultimately, an unimaginative album from a promising band. Better records may lie ahead for them, but for now they will struggle to reach far beyond their existing fanbase.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 60 out of 74
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Mixed: 10 out of 74
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Negative: 4 out of 74
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Jan 14, 2018Two weeks into 2018 and I'm sure this album will be one of my favourites of the year. Best post-punk release I've heard in a long time.
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Jan 18, 2018
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Jan 14, 2018