Foo Fighters, Shame Shame | Track Review 🎵

Foo Fighters are back, but they try something a bit different on “Shame Shame,” the promo single from Medicine at Midnight.

Despite the fact that the name of the song at hand is 🎵 “Shame Shame,” there is NO SHAME whatsoever with 🎙 Foo Fighters returning! That’s right, after we last heard from 🎙 Dave Grohl and company in 2017 (💿 Concrete and Gold), they’re back with new music in late 2020.  Sure, 💿 Medicine at Midnight won’t actually materialize until 2021, but at least we know it’s on the way.  “Shame Shame” gives us a preview of Medicine at Midnight, so we are able to make an early first impression.  So, is it a bop, flop, or somewhere in between?

Here’s the deal.  “Shame Shame,” by my estimations, has some great pros as well as some cons.  Starting positively, the groove is lit from start to finish.  The record is produced by Foo Fighters and 🎙 Greg Kurstin.  While I’d argue Kurstin is best known/praised for his pop endeavors, he produced Concrete and Gold namely the sensational “The Sky is a Neighborhood”.  The sound of this record is quite intriguing overall. I’m all-in on the guitar and bass riffs, coupled with those mammoth drums.

Where I’m a bit less sold is the overall execution of the song. From a vocal standpoint, Dave Grohl is a bit more subtle initially. It’s enigmatic, making the listener tune into his every word just to see where “Shame Shame” is going to go. He does grow more assertive, but never percolates into hard rocking epic-ness per se. As far as the melody, there’s a respectable tune, particularly on the repeated “shame(s),” but I can’t say it’ll rock your socks off.

Final Thoughts 💭

Give Foo Fighters credit for doing something different, period – that takes bravery.  That said, I’m not sure that Dave Grohl and company absolutely nailed it, at least on “Shame Shame.”  There are some great happenings, as aforementioned, but at best, “Shame Shame” is a ‘grower.’ Is it bad? Nope.  Is it triumphant? Nope.  Again, I like parts of it, but as a song, I’m somewhere in between.

🎙 Foo Fighters • 💿 Medicine at Midnight • 🏷 RCA • 🗓 2.5.21

[📷: RCA]