"My nails ain’t manicured/ My voice ain’t the best you’ve heard/ And you can choose to hate my words/ But do I give a f***,” sings Shame’s Charlie Steen on One Rizla, the single that suggests that his band could be more than the latest south London reprobates with a notorious live reputation.
Those lines are a neat summary of the quintet, who mix scuzzy indie rock guitars with Steen’s harsh growl. Words you might choose to hate include his howl of “Bathe me in blood!” on The Lick and a tasteless seduction of Theresa May on Visa Vulture.
Having cut their teeth in the same Brixton pub rehearsal space as the equally objectionable Fat White Family and supported the similarly visceral Slaves on tour, they’re still gigging hard and gearing up to release the first notable album of 2018: the cheekily titled Songs of Praise, out on January 12.
It’s not an easy listen for the most part, but it’s the ringing guitar melody of One Rizla that has me thinking they might just go the way of The Horrors and turn their shock rock into something genuinely special.
April 18, Electric Ballroom, NW1 (020 7485 9006, electricballroom.co.uk)