Shame Engine / Blood Pleasure

The new album from Health & Beauty - Shame Engine / Blood Pleasure - is their 2nd for Wichita Recordings and the 7th of their career. The recording features a large cast of musicians from the outfit's past and it's present helping the band's founder and sole constant Brian J Sulpizio achieve his idiosyncratic vision-a sound and ethos he's been kicking around, retooling, and finessing for more than 15 years. The new album conveys a directness and scorching power that seems to stem from the band's live performances, whether the harrowing, droning blues of the opener "Saturday Night" or the soulful Irish-tinged folk-rock of "Recourse." The most gripping and satisfying installment in Health & Beauty's process yet, renowned Chicago music critic, Peter Margasak, has declared Shame Engine / Blood Pleasure as "one of the great rock albums to emerge from Chicago this decade", and it's surely one for fans of Jim O'Rourke's song-based output and The Sea & Cake, as well as appealing to anyone who enjoys "Tonight's The Night"-era Neil Young.SIDE A01. Saturday Night 02. Yr Wives SIDE B01. Rat Shack 02. Clown SIDE C01. Lack 02. Bottom Leaves 03. Judy 04. Escaping Error SIDE D01. Recourse 02. Love Can Be Kind