Menace Beach sounds like the title of an episode of Scooby Doo. It's probably not though, but we can pretend. It's not clear yet whether this band (not to be confused with the US band of the same name) is here to stay for a while or is a one-off project, as it was recorded in several sessions over the summer and includes contributions by various players from other bands including Hookworms, You Animals and Sky Larkin. The songs were the product of late nights and short attention spans and share common ground with fuzzy American alt-rock like that by, in their own words, Pixies, The Dandy Warhols, Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr., and they're not alone in looking to that era and those artists for inspiration at the moment.
There's a wealth of new talent taking fuzzed-out post-grunge as the marker to ignite their own creative spark and Menace Beach are making a tidy job of it, which is hardly a big shock given their pedigree. It's not all about style, and of course style is nothing without the tunes to back it up. 'Dream Out' has enough melody to be interpreted in many musical styles and the psychedelic 'Teenage Jesus' throws a few different ideas into the mix, providing a terrific, if brief, highlight. More routine is 'Wake Up' but that too is given a lift by some ragged harmonies, whereas 'Burn Out' is the most simplistic, coming over like an early Teenage Fanclub B-side. Whatever the various future plans for these guys are, let's hope they reconvene for another jam or two sometime soon.
Menage Beach's website
Stream the EP in full
The EP will be available in November from Desire Records
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