Hello, everyone! It’s time for another album review! I’m reviewing the newest shame album, Food for Worms.

This is the third studio album by shame, a post-punk band who have gotten lots of critical acclaim over the past five years or so. And before I talk about this album, I want to talk about my very controversial feelings about shame’s music. Are they extremely creative? Yes. But that doesn’t change the fact that their debut album, Songs of Praise, felt like a total slog for me to get through. Yes, I know, you’re probably thinking, ‘SERIOUSLY? A TOTAL SLOG TO GET THROUGH?’ And, to me, yeah, that album gets incredibly boring/annoying, and I can’t say I really love one song on the album.

Then came their second album, Drunk Tank Pink, which was released in 2021 … and I like it more than their debut, as I like the production a bit better, and at least it has one song that I love, that being the closing track, “Station Wagon”. But while there are lots of interesting ideas on the album, it also felt like a slog to get through, and while I like it more than their debut, I only like it slightly more. A lot of the lyrics felt really cringey and musically it didn’t interest me that much … and at times, the album gets very annoying.

Keep in mind these are just my personal feelings on this band’s music. When I do my reviews, the ratings I give albums are always based on how much/how little I personally ended up liking the album, not some sort of ‘objective rating’, whatever that means.

So, yeah, I’ve seen all the critical acclaim, and people saying they’re one of the best bands out there right now, and … even as a fan of post-punk, I just haven’t been able to get into shame’s music up to this point.

So, my expectations for this new album were not very high. But sometimes bands/artists/etc. whose music I really don’t like will suddenly put out an album I really love, and while it’s unlikely with each individual album, it does happen sometimes. So, I decided to check out shame’s newest album, Food for Worms, which I’ve also seen getting quite a bit of critical acclaim. So, what do I think of it?

Well, first of all, I do like that every shame album has had a totally different sound. Songs of Praise, while it is very much a post-punk album (at least if I understand what post-punk is … I don’t know how to define music genres), is probably the closest to a straight-ahead rock album they’ve put out, even though there’s a lot of creativity. Then Drunk Tank Pink was more avant-garde in my opinion … I mean, it had a kind of similar sound to Songs of Praise, but only kind of, and at points it sounded like a totally different band. This new album sounds totally different to me … it’s more mellow—although it does get intense at points—and while I’d still call this post-punk, it’s probably the least post-punk album of the three they’ve put out so far. But again, I don’t know how to define music genres.

Anyway, this is my favourite album they’ve put out to date. Now, that’s not to say I love the album—I don’t. But it shows them going in a direction I find much more interesting, and it makes me excited to hear whatever they put out next after this!

That being said, this album does have a lot of flaws that hold it back for me, and I’m not really a big fan of this album as a whole, even though it has some huge standout tracks to me.

The album opens up with “Fingers of Steel”, which starts with some awesome pianos, and some fantastic distorted guitars! I do find the snares a bit underpowering in this song, though, and the production overall feels quite messy, and it holds me back from liking the song a lot more.

The next track, “Six-Pack”, I like a bit more. It seems to be about someone whose happiness comes from imagination. I don’t see it as a criticism of that, because there’s nothing wrong with using your imagination to feel happy … I’m sure we all do it sometimes. I certainly do. But that being said, this song seems to show that this character really wants to find happiness from real life, and it seems to be a reminder to the listener not to spend too much time in your own head. I find the repetitive guitars a little bit annoying, but I do like the track overall.

“Yankees” features some really great guitar melodies and a huge hook that, while having some messy production that I don’t really like, mostly works for me. I’m not going to say I love the track, but I do like it.

“Alibis” is one of my favourite shame songs to date … possibly my favourite. This song has a super catchy hook that I could totally understand someone finding very annoying, but to me it is really fun to listen to! This song reminds me of “Water in the Well”, my second favourite song on Drunk Tank Pink, but with a better chorus in my opinion.

“Adderall” is the next track. Musically, it’s a very mellow track at points but is also heavier at points. This song shows the narrator trying to encourage someone to get help for a drug addiction, but you get the feeling that the attempts to help this person aren’t working. I don’t love the song, but I find it a lot more interesting than the next song on the album.

“Orchid” is also kind of mellow, but it almost feels like it doesn’t really go anywhere until the very end. Also, the pianos that come in partway through feel out of place. Yes, it builds a lot, but I just don’t find much about the track very interesting, and the vocal melodies bore me. Although I like the very end of the song with the intense drumming and the distorted guitars with a great melody!

“The Fall of Paul” is the next song, and it opens up with some awesome guitars! I don’t usually say this in a review, but it’s one of those songs where I don’t really know how to describe why I like it so much … I just do! And I recommend you give it a listen for yourself!

The drums sound mostly good on the next track, “Burning By Design”, and I also really like the guitars, both electric and acoustic, and the melodies are really good, too! I love the way it suddenly gets musically intense in the final minute!

“Different Person” features some really interesting lyrics, and I love the eerie feeling of the track musically. The drumming on this song is fantastic, and I love the guitars, too! I think the lyrics really fit well with the music, as the narrator seems to be having a hard time accepting how much this person has changed. It’s arguably my favourite song on the album!

Finally, there’s the closing track, “All the People”. While I like the lyrics on this track, which seem to be about trying to look for the positives in life even when it seems like everything’s going wrong, I do find the instrumental really boring, and there’s not much melodically that I really like here. It’s also the longest song here, and it feels like it really drags on.

So, overall … well, I like quite a few of the songs here, but as a full album something just feels missing, and I can’t quite tell what. Also, a lot of the production still feels messy, which is something that held back their first two albums for me, and it does so here as well … but still, it’s pleasant while it’s on, and it’s got some songs that I absolutely love, and it’s the most I’ve liked a shame album so far … so, I’m going to give it a strong 5.5/10. I feel like I ‘should’ like it more, but I still like it more than I thought I would, and I’m really curious to hear the next shame album.

Anyway, feel free to let me know in the comment section what you think of this album and/or what you think of this review. And I’ll be back with more reviews soon!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Alibis”, “The Fall of Paul”, “Burning By Design”, “Different Person”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Orchid”