Album Review: shame - "Cutthroat"

Cutthroat is indeed cutthroat, where its songs are about all the liars, cheats, and scum of the Earth people. The music is pummeling, full of rapid fire rockers that are all the more thrilling, making it one of shame's most enjoyable and infectious records to date.

Dead Oceans - 2025

The South London post punk scene is thriving and one of its highly acclaimed bands, shame, are on another level. Their discography so far has been bulletproof with bangers and rapid fire performances, especially leading from a charismatic and fiery Charlie Steen. 2018's Songs of Praise introduced the band with more traditional post punk leanings, 2021's Drunk Tank Pink turned the intensity and tightened up with the performances, and 2023's Food for Worms is full of anthemic gems, maturity, and slow burners. Now we're in 2025 and shame have brought us Cutthroat, their fourth studio album. Cutthroat is indeed cutthroat, where its songs are about all the liars, cheats, and scum of the Earth people. The music is pummeling, full of rapid fire rockers that are all the more thrilling, making it one of shame's most enjoyable and infectious records to date. Its choruses and hooks are so sticky they may be impossible to get rid of, even if you got a hit of the memory stick from Men In Black. The album's track listing is impeccable and includes one hit after another and nearly every song is a fiery, noisy bop.

There are typical cuts that would throw down in the mosh pit while there are some twists and turns that will surprise those patiently looking for them. The album's opener is quite the fist to the face, being a booming, blazing title track. Chugging noisy guitars, brash bass, quirky synthesizers, and a Charlie Steen singing about big beautiful naked women falling out of the sky. Yes, he does in fact sing that in a song. It's about all the villainous goons that are in control who can do whatever they want, whenever they want. Murder, right now? Why not! You're rich and powerful and no one can do anything to stop you. It's an infectious, raging tune that will get the blood pumping real quick. I don't think I can physically count how many times Steen sings "motherfucker" on the track, but you can take my word for it when I say that it's quite a lot. "Cowards Around" another favorite that's all about the cowards who drink protein shakes, those who are news presenters on live TV, those who are gel-haired real estate agents, and those who are just like us. It has a great repeating drum pattern and guitar groove that's hypnotic. "Quiet Life" surprisingly is built around an acoustic driven tune, but still has all the noise and anthemic charm of a shame track. There's a triumphant, harmonious "singing at the pub" charm to it. The turbo charged "Nothing Better" is all about the losers who get high in the afternoon and plugging all your thoughts on the internet. "Plaster" is a 90's rock throwback with some lovely fuzzy guitar and sticky hooks. Single "Spartak" was initially not my favorite at first, but its piano plucks, timeless melodies, and bright chorus really won me over. I also enjoy lines like "don't climb onto that high horse cause the saddle doesn't fit ya."

"To and Fro" has the anthemic triumphant progression that you typically would want from a shame banger. "Lampião" is the surprise of all surprises on this album, where the band dabble in Brazilian grooves and guitar, with Steen singing in Spanish a "story about a motherfucker called Lampião" (his words, not mine). It's told as Lampião is a Salvadorian legend who has carved out a life no one would understand. It's a fantastic track and is arguably the best on the album, one that is also unexpectedly poetic. "After Party" is a skeletal, groovier cut that has a strong chorus and nice additional cowbell. "Screwdriver" has some plucky western influenced guitar over a rapidly paced bass groove. "Packshot" is the only slow burning, brooding track on the album and it's a solid one too. After all the fast paced tunes, it wouldn't be a bad idea to throw a slower one here, but it's still all the more intense. It sounds like it could've easily been placed on Food for Worms. "Axis of Evil," another surprise, has the band dabbling more in electro pop and new wave and it has all the dark energy of a New Order or Depeche Mode track.

I'll make the strongest case I can for the album by saying that Cutthroat is everything you would want in a shame album and more. Its twelve songs at thirty-seven minute runtime are begging to be replayed again and again. The songs are impressive, strong, catchy, vibrant, and most of all, they all go hard and absolutely shred. It's hard to pick an album released in 2025 that's better than this one. It's a strong album of the year contender, like every shame album before it. The band continue to grow, learn, and strengthen their skillset. For a band this young, they've achieved a massive lot thus far and I cannot wait to see where shame go from here. They give the people what they want and more as well as give themselves what they want too. Cutthroat's the album to dive in and bathe yourself in, y'all.

My Rating: 9 / 10

Favorite Songs: "Cutthroat," "Lampião," "Spartak," "To and Fro," "Plaster," "Cowards Around," "Quiet Life"