‘Quite comfortably the best thing I've listened to this year’ - André and Andrew listen to Shame

This is a series in which two of us listen to an album for the first time and chat about it as we go. These are our real first impressions, and any moments of insight are entirely coincidental.

“Alphabet”

Andrew

Always up for a cantering start

André

Crikey, vocal delivery is very IDLES

Andrew

Yeah, exactly, IDLES, Slaves is what I think of immediately

André

Lyrics too actually

Lovely snare rolls throughout this

André

Good opener!

Andrew

Yeah, it's a nice noisey brash open

“Nigel Hitter”

Andrew

Oh, that's a change of pace

Kinda groovy

André

This really reminds me of FEET, that band I went on about loads 2 years back

Yeah super groovy

André

That bass tone is strange but kinda great

This is a proper toe-tapper

Andrew

Yeah, I like all the guitar tones, it's bright. I've been nodding my head from the start of this one

Think this as a potential favourite already

André

Excellent percussion overdubs all over the place

Andrew

Lovey little percussive patters going on around my head

André

Yep haha

Andrew

In a lot of ways I'm reminded of jittery indie rock of 15 years ago

André

Yeah the guitar work especially, but more DIY

“Born in Luton”

André

Wow

Andrew

There's a lot more of that percussive rhythm going on in the background

André

The guitar work and production is pretty fucking rad

A lot to take in

Andrew

It is, yeah, it's spot on

That kind of percussive background always makes me want to mention Talking Heads

André

I can see why haha

This slower section is really nice

Andrew

Taken a dip in tempo though

Wow, what a busy track

André

3 tracks in and the songwriting is more ambitious than I thought

Andrew

I'm all for it, but there are beeps and bloops and roaring guitar

André

I kinda love the beeps and bloops lol

Andrew

Oh I totally do, yeah

Alongside these tempo shifts too

André

This is great tbh

Really builds momentum

Andrew

Yeah, it's turned into a pretty grand affair in four minutes

André

I mean, whisper it, but this is kinda the direction I wanted IDLES to try following Joy…

Andrew

Haha, what a finish

“March Day”

André

Yeah these guys really know how to get into a great groove

Andrew

It's another change of pace, and I'm once again reaching for guitar music the NME used to cover in the 00s. Y'know, when they did music 👀

André

They give a platform for Tory MP's instead now.

Quite literally

But anyway…

Andrew

Haha, March Day is a good jaunt anyway

André

I honestly didn't realise these guys were so groove-based

I'm all for it

Andrew

Well I'm certainly having fun with them.

If I'm going to nitpick, this is slightly more straight down the middle than the previous tracks

André

Maybe, nice change of pace I think. I already know I'm gonna be coming back to this.

Andrew

Yeah, I think I'll be spinning this a fair few times

“Water in the Well”

Andrew

That thudding drum and bass combo right out the gate is great

André

Oh I've heard this, it was one of the singles

Andrew

Ah okay, it's a good single choice. Very satisfying chord progression.

André

Yeah, though Snow Day was my favourite one, which is next

Andrew

And the drums seem to be kicked up a notch for me. My right ear just got pummelled haha.

André

Drumming is great so far, quite unorthodox in places

Andrew

In fact I think the kick is thumping on the right every phrase or so

Stonking final section to this track too

André

This would go down very well live

Andrew

I was just about to say that

“Snow Day”

André

I love this track. Really got my attention straight away

Andrew

I've purposely left even the singles unlistened to

Although thirty seconds in, this is shaping up to be another strong track

So it makes sense that it's a single

André

Some of the industrial noises remind me of Daughters actually

Really interesting

Andrew

Yeah, for sure, I can see that

It's a bit grimier, this

Big wall of sound

André

Oooooof this section is great

Andrew

Yeah, "oooof" is right

André

I can't get enough of this fucking drummer tbh

Andrew

I've thoroughly enjoyed the drumming thus far

Not to take away from the rest of the band

There's some cracking musicianship here

André

Yeah maybe more than I initially thought

You sometimes get the wrong impression with punk bands. Not these guys, they can fucking play

Andrew

Well punk doesn't always go hand and hand with great musicians, just a passion for what they're doing. But it seems these guys have both

This driving section towards the end is another great close to a track

André

Seems like a centrepiece of sorts, this song. Very good

“Human, for a Minute”

Andrew

That's an earthy bassline

André

Slower, but still groovy

How you feeling about the vocals?

Andrew

Was just about to mention the vocals, he's got a range of styles

I think as a respite from the rest of the tracklist thus far, these softer, spoken vocals fit well with the rest of the track

I'm glad he mixes it up though

André

It's quite low in the mix a lot of the time. Allows everything else to shine

Andrew

Yeah, although being lower in the mix, they have the potential to be missed, I've been enjoying the instrumentals

André

Agree on all counts

This one is a nice change from the frantic nature of previous songs

Andrew

I'll sound like a broken record about the ending, I'll say it differently, they build and layer tracks well

“Great Dog”

Andrew

Certainly another change of pace

André

Here we go then

Andrew

Ah the vocals are getting a bit more of an outing eh?

André

This is more of what I expected initially

Andrew

I wouldn't have been upset if this was it. i too was expecting this noisey, raucous, manic pace

André

Haha, this is ace

Andrew

Type of thing that slaps a smile on my face. Imagine watching that live

“6/1”

André

That guitar has my attention already

Andrew

Yeah, me too, some interesting crossing rhythms. That'll always hold my attention

André

Gonna mention drums again, my word

Andrew

Agreed, it's that agitated, twitching drum line

André

Yeah perfectly put

We need to make a point of catching these live when normality returns

I've heard brilliant things already

Andrew

The back half of this albums puts me into a sweaty gig next to someone that's spilt multiple pints over themselves

And not giving a shit

André

Haha

“Harsh Degrees”

Andrew

Well that was a thump

André

Yeah this is proper punk momentum now. I'm all for it!

Backend of the album feels like a build-up to a big crash

Andrew

Yes, I wonder how they'll close

I swear I'm listening to something other than the drums, but there's a kind of a 3 over 4 rhythm going somewhere in there that's scratching an itch

André

I am enjoying this.

Quite a bit

Andrew

The guitars are doing a stellar job here

André

Love how the guitars offer this weird computer-malfunction type of texture

Andrew

Yeah, very into the distorted fuzz

“Station Wagon”

André

Here we go, closing track

Andrew

Well that's a moody, atmospheric start

Maybe the crash happened and this is the comedown?

André

Yep

Love the mellow vibe

Andrew

I'm in suspense, but maybe I should be in reflection

Maybe this is falling out of the sweaty gig

It's a long closer though, so maybe it's ramping up

André

Nice backing vocals

Makes a change from the shouts and screams previously haha

Andrew

Yeah, this is similar to the respite we got in Human, for a Minute

André

Piano!

Andrew

Have we had anything besides a standard guitar band instrumentation before now? The piano is certainly notable

André

I don't believe so

This is a real moment, isn't it

Andrew

Indeed, they were ramping up to something after all

Oh that's a dirty guitar pushing its way in

Here we go

André

Powerful this

Andrew

Yeah, I think we're heading straight for a huge wall of noise

Andrew

Phew!

André

I was totally immersed in that

What a brilliant closer

Andrew

My goodness, yes, at the start I thought it might've been a low key closer

Honestly, that was a pleasure to listen to

André

Yeah, I'm definitely going to be returning a lot. Quite comfortably the best thing I've listened to this year

Andrew

Haha, quite the accolade on January 15th 😉. But I'm with you

André

This feels like a momentous moment for them

André

The pacing of the album was spot on and there are so many subtleties that it could be a real grower too

Andrew

That's a brilliant follow up album. Some excellent playing, satisfying rhythmic games being played in the background, great production

Agreed on the pacing too

André

Let's catch 'em live

Andrew

If we're ever allowed