Earlier this year I was lucky enough to see shame and it might have been one of the best shows I've seen in years. I'm thrilled we already have new music from the South London band, and especially since it's such a sonic shift for them. "Fingers of Steel" is much more melodic than anything off 2021's Drunk Tank Pink while still sounding like what we love about shame. It's a new style of post punk that's less aggressive and more sonically pleasing although it's also more discordant than they typically get. Everything about "Fingers of Steel" seems just slightly off and out of tune, but that's kind of what makes the song great. It's so close to being a mainstream straight up modern rock song, but shame just could never quite do that so you get another wonderfully unique song like this one.
You can watch the video for "Fingers of Steel" below. Food for Worms is due out February 24 on Dead Oceans, which can be pre-ordered here. For more on shame, check out the band on Facebook and Twitter. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Wed. Mar. 1 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory Fri. Mar. 3 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Sat. Mar. 4 - Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop Sun. Mar. 5 - Leeds, UK @ Stylus Tue. Mar. 7 - Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill Wed. Mar. 8 - Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory Thu. Mar. 9 - Bristol, UK @ SWX Sat. Mar. 11 - Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall Sun. Mar. 12 - Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed Tue. Mar. 14 - Nantes, FR @ Stereolux Wed. Mar. 15 - Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage Thu. Mar. 16 - Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey Sat. Mar. 18 - Lisbon, PT @ LAV Sun. Mar. 19 - Madrid, ES @ Nazca Mon. Mar. 20 - Barcelona, ES @ La 2 de Apolo Wed. Mar. 22 - Nimes, FR @ Paloma Thu. Mar. 23 - Milan, IT @ Magnolia Fri. Mar. 24 - Zurich, CH @ Plaza Sun. Mar. 26 - Munich, DE @ Technikum Mon. Mar. 27 - Berlin, DE @ Astra Tue. Mar. 28 - Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle Thu. Mar. 30 - Oslo, NO @ Vulkan Fri. Mar. 31 - Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Sat. Apr. 1 - Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Mon. Apr. 3 - Brussels, BE @ AB Tue. Apr. 4 - Cologne, DE @ Floria Thu. Apr. 6 - Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg Fri. Apr. 28 - London, UK @ Brixton Academy Wed. May 10 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall Fri. May 12 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Sat. May 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Sun. May 14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw Tue. May 16 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair Thu. May 18 - Montréal, QC @ Foufounes Électriques Fri. May 19 - Ottawa, ON @ Club SAW Sat. May 20 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace Mon. May 22 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Wed. May 24 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Fri. May 26 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Sat. May 27 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck Sun. May 28 - Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge Tue. May 30 - Dallas,TX @ Granada Theater Fri. Jun. 2 - Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn Sat. Jun. 3 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Sun. Jun. 4 - New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre
Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it. “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
Photo by Cecil Sykes Midnight Peg are an Edmonton, AB based band that are referred to as "madhouse punk." Their latest single, "Thirstland," is a just barely under control two minute burst of punk. You have guitar riffs that will make you think of At the Drive In, and somewhat spoken and yelled vocals which create a feeling of chaos throughout. This is a loud and angry track that is completely in your face. But, unlike most tracks this loud and punk based, "Thirstland" still keeps a sense of art in their music. Midnight Peg feel like a higher class of loud, angry punk rock. This one is great, with just enough of an emo undercurrent to make the song kind of melodic and almost palatable to a mainstream audience. You can listen to "Thirstland" below. Skinning is due out in October on Thousand Island Records. For more on Midnight Peg, check out the artist's website .
