Graham Reid | | 1 min read
From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this which comes on heavyweight vinyl, in a frameable cover and with an inner sleeve of lyrics and another engaging image by David Mulcahy.
Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . .
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The debut Replica by this trio out of Lyttelton was a Recommended Record on release in 2020 for its vinyl iteration where the power pop, hard rock, motorik rhythms and brooding boogie really hit the spot.
Lotta talent there too: Dave Mulcahy of Superette and JPSE (vocals, guitar, synths), drummer Mark Whyte (Into the Void) and John Billows (Renderers, Dark Matter) on bass, vocals and synths.
Once again the trio delivers an emotional and sonically-dense intensity which throbs with menace and a big chorus on Divide (about the post-Trump world), head-down hard-pop (UFO Radio) and driving rhythms coming on like relentless half-track tanks on a blighted landscape (the terrific Headpig).
They also manage to make monotone into optimistic psychedelic motorik pop (Beyond).
MEDaL have a mainline into big, widescreen music which still manages to be tight'n'tidy, even on the taut and haunting Night Falls and the dreamy post-Joy Division pulsing of The Hive which stretch past the six minute mark.
MEDal manage that rare feat of making darkness seem like light, the familiar feel fresh and these menacing times hopeful and even danceable.
The second home-run batted out of the park by MEDaL . . . and very cool videos by Mulcahy also
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You can hear and buy this album on bandcamp here
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