Skip to main content

zakk-brown
14th October 2014

Album: The Marmozets – The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets

Zakk Brown finds that the title of the new Marmozets album proves accurate
Categories:
TLDR

Released October 6th

Roadrunner Records

9/10

The hype surrounding Marmozets has been considerable, culminating in performances at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds earlier this year. With the release of their debut LP The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets, the hype can be believed and the title of the album proves accurate.

Instantly, the quintet from Bingley grab you by the balls and tell you that they mean business with the heavy and exhilarating opener ‘Born Young and Free’, following it up with lead singer Becca Macintyre’s angry snarl on the punk-riff driven ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ The album offers plenty of heavy punk compositions by the Macintyre boys on drums and guitar and the Bottomley brothers on bass and guitar, with lead vocals and screams that make it seem like the world is ending. This is shown on tracks like ‘Cover Up’, which has a bizarre staccato chorus, ‘Vibetech’ opening with the strangest intro riff I’ve ever heard, and ‘Move, Shake, Hide’ which will please fans of harder, almost metal, music.

Sadly, towards the end of the album the anger and weight of the punk sounds begins to wear. Fortunately, the LP isn’t just filled with music that angry teens like to mosh to in dark venues with sticky floors and a ubiquitous smell of piss; it is varied by the slower tracks like ‘Cry’. The track swells from a slow piano lead song to a climactic middle section and down to a slow outro, with Becca showing some impressive and more subtle vocals. The final track ‘Back to You’ also has a slow progressive ascension into a cathartic and uplifting final jam from the boys of the band.

The cheeky and playful attitude (e.g. giving the coffee and tea makers a special thanks in the back of the booklet) of the band and the downright bizarre riffs on some of the album’s tracks are worthy of the title of the LP and differentiate Marmozets from other hardcore punk rockers. If they can keep up the rate they’re going at it, won’t be long before they are among the big names in modern rock.


More Coverage

The Smile live at BBC Radio 6 Music Festival: Contagious follow-up project impresses Manchester

Fans gather to see the much-anticipated Radiohead follow-up project The Smile headlining the Radio 6 Music festival in Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse

Liam Gallagher and John Squire live in Manchester: ‘Growing old disgracefully’ in the best way possible

Oasis’ Liam Gallagher teams up with boyhood guitar hero John Squire of The Stone Roses to deliver psychedelic raucousness in Manchester

This Feeling live in Manchester: Rivia, The Stride, and Kyris take Off the Square

META – This Feeling’s latest Manchester outing showcases three guitar bands with big futures

86TVs live in Manchester: Headline debut in the city lights up the Deaf Institute

86TVs made their Manchester headline debut at The Deaf Institute, showcasing their new EP and unreleased material