| "Concrete" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Shame | ||||
| from the album Songs of Praise | ||||
| Released | 20 September 2017 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:34 | |||
| Label | Dead Oceans | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Shame singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Concrete" on YouTube | ||||
"Concrete" is a song by British punk rock band, Shame. The song is the first promotional single off of their debut studio album, Songs of Praise . The single was released on 20 September 2017 through Dead Oceans.
In an interview with National Public Radio, lead singer, Charlie Steen, described that track as a flâneur's perspective on the psychological and emotionally draining effects of a doomed relationship". [1] Steen further described the track as "a moment where all of the worries and thoughts one might feel within this entrapment are isolated and embraced – a moment where the futility of reasoning is accepted."
The song features a call-and-response set of vocals between lead singer Steen and bassist Josh Finerty. Per an interview with NPR, the idea of that was to represent the trapping feeling of being in a relationship that almost feels like you're talking with yourself. [2] The song went through several renditions as the band formed before the entire band contributed to the vocals at the ending of the track. Per Steen this gave the song a "schoolboy-choir [sound], vaguely angelic finale that we were looking for." [2]
Writing for National Public Radio (NPR), Bob Boilen called "Concrete" a passionate song with "call-and-response stuttered guitars". Boilen compared the track to fellow British post-punk band, Gang of Four. [1] Boilen however said that Shame's music, and the song Concrete specifically feel "vital" with "19-year-old [Charlie] Steen and bassist Josh Finerty screaming at each other, revealing the inner dialog of the song's main character". [1]
In a separate NPR review of the track, Lars Gotrich described a song that lurches like a vampire bat and kicks grinning teeth. [2]
Cady Siregar, writing for The Quietus compared their song to post-punk band, Fat White Family, describing the song as "highly politicised songwriting and their merry-go-round of raucous hedonism on and off stage has perhaps inevitably drawn comparisons with Fat White Family - and Shame are part of the south London scene that spawned Fat Whites. But they have also helped revive the good old ‘Is guitar music dead?’ debate; Shame are, undeniably and perhaps frustratingly, all white men and that tired old debate seems only to include bands of white men." [3]
John Norris, writing for Billboard praised the track for its exhilarating sound, and compared the track to Parquet Courts, Slint, The Clash, Beck, and Gang of Four. Norris said that the song has a "witty, melodic, fiery and addictive vibe". [4]
A corresponding music video was released on 20 September 2017, the same day as the single's release. The music video is a fourth wall breakdown between friction and reality. It features Steen walking on a treadmill before joining his bandmates. [1]
Witch Mountain is an American doom metal band from Portland, Oregon.
Joyce Manor is an American rock band from Torrance, California, formed in 2008. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Barry Johnson, guitarist Chase Knobbe, bassist and back-up vocalist Matt Ebert, and drummer Pat Ware.
The Unnatural World is the second studio album by Connecticut post-punk duo Have a Nice Life. It was released on February 4, 2014, via The Flenser and the band's own record label Enemies List Home Recordings. It is a follow up to 2008's Deathconsciousness and 2010's Time of Land EP.
Andrew Ashong is a British-Ghanaian soul singer-songwriter, DJ and record producer from Forest Hill in South London. He spent his teenage years searching for records and by 16 he was DJing and working on his own productions. Andrew Ashong has released two EPs: Flowers with Theo Parrish (2012) and the Andrew Ashong EP (2014), which moved away from the dance floor sound of Flowers and interjected more soul and jazz inspired rhythms and textures "A release less targeted to the dance floor, it instead chooses to retrospectively immerse in the ethics of true music". He also featured on "Day like This/Feel Loved" by Tony Allen and Theo Parish (2013). Paul Lester of The Guardian has compared him to Shuggie Otis, Roy Ayers, Bill Withers and Lewis Taylor in his "New Band of the Day" feature.
A World Lit Only by Fire is the seventh studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 7 October 2014 through frontman Justin Broadrick's own label, Avalanche Recordings, and was the band's first full-length album since 2001's Hymns. It was preceded by the digital singles "New Dark Ages" in August 2014 and "Imperator" in September 2014, and it was followed by several international tours.
"Waiting Room" is a song by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. The song was first released as the opening track to their debut EP, and was later compiled on their widely acclaimed and commercially successful compilation 13 Songs. Featuring stylistic influences from funk, hip-hop and reggae, the song typifies Fugazi's signature style of post-hardcore and would go on to become one of their most popular and widely covered songs despite never being released as a single.
"Karate" is a song by the Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal from their second studio album, Metal Resistance. The song was released to active rock radio as an airplay-only single in the United States on February 26, 2016.
Stadium Cake is the debut studio album by Australian pop, folk band Oh Pep! It was released on 1 July 2016 and peaked at No. 20 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums Chart.
Dealer is the second studio album by American rock band Foxing. The album was released on October 30, 2015 through Triple Crown Records.
Infinite Dissolution is an album from the drone rock band Locrian. It was released on July 24, 2015, through Relapse Records.
"Hard Times" is a song by American rock band Paramore from their fifth studio album, After Laughter. It was released on April 19, 2017, through Fueled by Ramen as the album's lead single. The song was written by lead vocalist Hayley Williams and guitarist Taylor York and was recorded in the band's hometown, Nashville, Tennessee. It is the first single to be released by the band since the return of drummer Zac Farro and the departure of former bassist Jeremy Davis.
"Want You Back" is a song by American band Haim from their second studio album, Something to Tell You (2017). It was released on May 3, 2017, as the album's lead single. The song was written by Haim with its producer Ariel Rechtshaid.
"Spent the Day in Bed" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey. It was produced by Joe Chiccarelli. The song was released via BMG Rights Management on 19 September 2017 as the lead single from Morrissey's upcoming eleventh solo studio album, Low in High School (2017), and a free download when pre-ordering the album. A 7" vinyl single with a live cover version of "Judy Is a Punk" by The Ramones on the b-side was released on 27 October 2017.
"Black Honey" is a song by American rock band Thrice. The song was released on April 27, 2016 as the lead single from their ninth studio album, ToBe Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere. It was the first single the band released following their breakup in 2012 and subsequent reunion in 2015. The political track uses the imagery of a man swatting at a beehive in search of honey as a metaphor for the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as a consequence of United States involvement in the Middle East, using the titular "black honey" as a euphemism for oil. The song was a large comeback hit for the band, charting at No. 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, their highest-charting single to date and their first charting single since "Image of the Invisible" in 2005.
The Sciences is the fourth studio album by American doom metal band Sleep. The album was released with little warning on April 20, 2018 through Third Man Records. It was the band's first full-length album since Dopesmoker (2003) on which the song "Sonic Titan" appeared as a live bonus track.
Grid of Points is the eleventh studio album by the American musician Liz Harris under the stage name Grouper. It was released in the United States on April 27, 2018, by Kranky.
"Never Fight a Man with a Perm" is a song by British rock band Idles. It is the fifth single from their second album, Joy as an Act of Resistance. The track was released as a single for streaming on 2 September 2018 through the band's YouTube channel.
What Chaos is Imaginary is the third studio album by American duo Girlpool. It was released on February 1, 2019 through Anti- Records.
"Still Feel" is a song by American band Half Alive. It was released on August 3, 2018 as the first single from their debut album, Now, Not Yet (2019). It was written by all three members of the band alongside Emiko Bankson, James Krausse, and Rachel Kramer, while production was handled by Eric Palmquist. "Still Feel" was described as an indie-funk, pop and funk-pop song with elements of jazz and electronic flourishes. Written after the dissolution of the lead singer's high school band, it describes "the theme of hope inside hopelessness and finding purpose and passion despite feeling unrooted" using space imagery.
"The Big Unknown" is a song by the English band Sade released in 2018. The song is featured in the motion picture Widows directed by Steve McQueen (director) and centered on four women forced to pull off a robbery to pay a large criminal debt left behind by their late husbands. The film, which was adapted from the UK crime series of the same name, stars Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, and Robert Duvall. Along with the songs by Sade and Nina Simone, the official soundtrack to Widows features an original score written by Hans Zimmer.