Lav's Music Corner

Shame are an English post-punk act who got their debut out in 2018 before the genre fully exploded in the years since with a number of bands being drowned in critical acclaim. Their sophomore album Drunk Tank Pink  in 2021 felt the benefit of that wave as they were covered alongside bands like Black Country, New Road, Squid, Black Midi, and Dry Cleaning. Food For Worms  was teased with a trio of singles released starting last year that projected an advancing of the band's sonic influences.  Review by Lav: While I wasn't crazy about the debut shame album and it was kind of a surprise to me how much it took off, I think they took a BIG step forward with their sophomore album Drunk Tank Pink . I was pretty positive in my coverage but I think I like the album even more than I was able to say at the time, which had me particularly excited for this record. While I'm not quite as crazy about Food For Worms , it sees that band expanding the scope of their sound in a way that has ...

5.  Tenkiller  - Chat Pile The breakout year for Chat Pile continues as they dropped the soundtrack for a film they scored a few years ago, lead off with this double single that contains more insanity from the band whose insanity is already a little difficult to describe. Whatever you think you're getting into with the heavy but well-paced post-hardcore instrumental, you aren't ready for the lyrics on this track. Well, maybe if you heard their full album earlier this year that can take a bit of the edge off.  Listen 4.  Nights In December  - Tkay Maidza So I didn't see this coming. It's an R&B flavored track sure but with a beat that combines some warbled synths with clacky background percussion that feels straight out of Tierra Whack's terminally underrated Peppers and Onions . The icing on the cake is a repetitive but effortlessly smooth hook that is pretty much guaranteed to stick in your head.  Listen 3.  Fingers Of Steel  - Shame While I'...

This weekend absolutely fucking ruled. I ended up with more then 15 songs just on the list for consideration for the best tracks of this week so please do yourself a favor and look around for all the great stuff that came out this weekend. The best new tracks of the week are below: 5.  Smokin Out The Window  - Silk Sonic This track relies on the one thing that Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars have in spades, charisma. On the surface it's a male music classic story of female money chasing and betrayal that comes from exactly as shallow a perspective as you'd expect. What makes it work is both their voices which can deliver narrative hooks and team up for beautiful harmonies on the hooks. If you can ignore the icky premise that the entire track is built on it's buttery smooth.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7fLOmlhYg 4.  This Side Of The Sun  - Shame Shame have never been a gentle band but on This Side Of The Sun  they dig in on some of the best lyricism yet....

Shame are a British post-punk group who first turned heads in 2018 with their debut album Songs Of Praise . After it was first reported almost a full year ago the band have returned with their sophomore album which was teased with 4 singles during its lead up. Review By Lav: I wasn't a huge fan of shame's debut album a few years ago, it didn't hate the record or anything but it didn't stand out much for me and I don't think I ever properly reviewed it. I kept my eyes on the band though because of how much I've loved British post-punk in recent years and I'm glad I did because they dropped some seriously killer singles leading up to the record that had me pretty excited for it. While the lo-fi mixing can sometimes be a hindrance and not every experiment the band indulges with works perfectly, I still really enjoyed the record.  The record was 3/4 on good singles before it even came out and those songs all held up pretty well in the tracklist here. Alphabet  i...