by Thrin Vianale (@windedfl)
Released in September, New York noise band Uniform’s fourth album on Sacred Bones Records is a masterclass in guilt and self-exorcism. Though keeping their tradition of fuzzed out guitars and glitchy, sinister noise elements, the recording quality of Shame is a departure from that of their previous albums. The warmth of the songs of this album is incredibly well crafted and surrounding, and draws you into the world the group creates in Shame. No human being is immune from being pulled immediately into the first track, “Delco.” The lack of pause, followed by the declaration of “you are what you’ve done, you are what’s been done to you,” brought me back to considering the title of the album itself. It’s an open-ended, relatable, and painful statement, matched with Michael Bergan’s haunting delayed vocals and drumming that I can only describe as foreboding. This album is also the first with drummer Mike Sharp as a member of the band. “Delco” is a lamentful banger that sets the tone for the rest of the album powerfully, and with expert intention.
“The Shadow of God’s Hand” is a slow burn, carried by lamenting, drawn out vocals and meandering itself into a dancey thrash song. The elements of noise and glitch in this song reach out and sting you. Noise and sharp electronic tones rip through this track at random and quite literally startled me, standing apart from guitarist Ben Greenberg’s fuzzed and distorted guitar elements in a way that I feel uniquely characterizes this band as a whole throughout their discography. The title track “Shame” incorporates electronic and synth elements prominently at the get-go, which sets it apart from some of the other tracks on this album. Bergan’s sermon-like vocals, declaring “my last confession, my greatest sin,” again pulled me back to the central ideas of shame, self-examination, and lingering guilt that I discerned in the album as a whole. A material darkness lingers over this song, with a narration that reads almost like a final speech given by a villain at the end of a horror movie or crime novel. Greenberg’s ascending, growling guitar leads move the song along like a chaotic train ride; it’s theatrical, punishing, and deeply emotional as all of the elements of the song work together.
Another highlight on this album is “Dispatches From the Gutter,” a fast-moving, dancey track that stands out in its structure and brevity on an album that for the most part is brooding, and contemplative in its pace. “This Won’t End Well” is the perfect progression from it, immediately diving into an eardrum obliterating noise segment before stretching itself out in a doomy, glitchy haze. The distorted, glitching vocals in “This Won’t End Well” are especially noticeable, increasing in intensity and distortion as it once again loops back into a hard-driving pace.
Clocking in at seven minutes and 51 seconds, the final track of Shame “I Am the Cancer” seems to perfectly incorporate all of the elements of the songs before it. It ties up a complicated and vulnerable album, reminding you, ultimately, “god will not love you forever” as it drones into silence. The synth and noise elements of this track hang over the vocals and guitars like a separate entity that still succeeds in unifying each element to each other, and trails it out into its conclusion. The lyrical content of this album as a whole is deeply vulnerable, pain-ridden, and sets it apart from the group’s previous albums in that way, among others. Listening to Shame from start to finish was almost like physically descending deeper and deeper into an idea, and a mood that is so well executed by the noise, punk, and metal elements that the band incorporates. Uniform demonstrates the power and agony of vulnerability, guilt, and self-examination in Shame, and draws you in from the first moment to its bitter end.