New Monsters – an album title so exquisitely accurate, it comes with it’s own box containing a round of applause.
The 5th studio album from the Slow Runner boys (Michael Flynn and Josh Kaler), New Monsters is a considerable step up from previous offerings. The LP’s self titled debut single appears, upon first inspection, to be a jarring, discordant overload. These chaps (and honorary chap-ess, in the form of the ever brilliant Frances Cone) have created a small sensory explosion, that certainly packs one hell of a punch.
Calls of “This is why we can’t have nice things” interlace themselves with scuzzy, goose-bump inducing harmonies. In musical terms, if someone took The Hush Sound, diced it with the synth heavy reverb of Muse, added a little indie-geekyness (press play on 500 Days Of Summer with Weezer thrown in), then you’re pretty much there.
The full LP, New Monsters, saw its release on 25th March, and as albums go, this is a genre-defying melting pot of the highest calibre. From the opening piano-led bounce of “My Love Will Bring You Back”, through to the closing whimsical melodies of “Perfectly Fine”, this LP takes you on a meandering musical journey from darkness into light and back again. The weaker tracks on the album – “me + 1 +1” and “Sad Flashbacks From A Happy Movie” both being prime suspects – leave us with a slight sense of monotony, continuing the synth infused melancholy beyond what is really necessary. That being said, as an album, New Monsters is bold with its intent, it’s hypnotic, it’s curious and above all else, it’s downright addictive listening.
If you’re the sort of person that’s looking to discover something musically memorable, then this is the album to buy – we might even go as far as saying it ranks up there in our favourites for 2016.
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