Review Summary: A roller coaster of anger precision crafted to stay with you for the foreseeable future.
There are two kinds of “raw” in my mind when referring to rock music in any form. There’s “raw” as in a dry production and a lack of processing outside of what is needed to make it not sound like a pile of old socks smells. Then there is “raw”, as in the overall feeling and tone is just angry, like you just said something very unpleasant to that rather large bouncer at the door with the knuckle dusters.
Mother’s Ruin by
Max Raptor is very much in the latter category. Where many other British alt rock bands will neutralise their vocals to smooth out their accents (or even go as far as to sound American to be more marketable in the old US of A), Max Raptor keeps the accent very much intact, the consonants biting and grating with each letter “T” and “C” that passes the lead singer’s lips. Throw that over a high-tempo beat, amps so crunchy they rival cream crackers, a hybrid of hard-core sensibilities and Britpop melodies and you get an Album that really does sound fed-up with the current state of affairs.
England Breathes is the stand-out track of the album, if only because it encapsulates this angry-with-society attitude being put forward so eloquently. Though, I imagine you’ll all keep returning to Evangeline, because any track that uses the line “this feels Bromantical” should be at the top of your to-do list for the day.
On the opposite end of the spectrum you have track 7, Heavy Hearts. The only melancholy track on the album, which even in isolation would still be pretty ho-hum. Its the track I’d imagine many people will skip on a regular basis or delete from their library altogether. All the elements that make up the Max Raptor sound, the aforementioned anger, sensibilities and so forth, are just outright missing. Throw in an accordion and piano, some very simple harmonies and an overall very average sound and you’re left with a Green Day single, which I do not say as a compliment in any sense of the word. It’s the black sheep of an otherwise near perfect alt-rock album and I see no reason for it being there.
Some albums throw in a slow song or two to give the listener some breathing room between the more energetic segments of the track list, but given the good range of tempos and variation already present, Heavy Hearts just feels shoehorned in because someone’s girlfriend wanted it there.
Outside of Track 7, just how good is the rest of the album? If I ever have kids I know I’ll be showing them this album when they’re 18 and they inevitably pop the question about what music I used to listen too when in my mid 20s. It has its own unique flavour in a crowded genre. You know its rock music written by Brits with a nark-on that’ll translate to any generation, and you knew only a minute into the first track that it’s a precision crafted tour-de-force on the current alt-rock scene that has real staying power.
