Menace Beach 'Super Transporterreum' (EP REVIEW)

Following on from the success of their debut album Ratworld and the subsequent critical acclaim still ringing in their ears, Menace Beach release their latest EP Super Transporterreum. Ratworld was thoroughly impressive and just a few months down the line this 5 track offering carries on in the same rich vein of form.

Before their debut LP much was made of their line up being a conglomerate of some of Leeds' finest bands but in the wake of such a successful album they must surely now be judged purely on their own merit. They bare almost no similarities to the bands whose members moonlight with them and are truly a unique entity.

Super Transporterreum feels like an extension of Ratworld. To me this implies that their creativity is like a factory conveyor belt and when the album was full they still had five pieces of material left over that were worthy of making the final cut, but the quota had already been filled. The EP opens with the title track which whilst having no elements you would class as conventionally catchy is one of the catchiest numbers they have produced to date. From first listen the ever changing tempo of the chorus becomes instantly locked into your consciousness. The next track "Hey Toupe" has everything we have come to expect from Menace Beach, it is short and punchy with their now trademark fuzzy guitar riffs, rumbling bass and frantic pounding drums.

There is a 90's grunge revival undercurrent running through most of their material and this is at its most prevalent in "Ghoul Power". The bass line in particular would not be out of place in the likes of Nirvana's "In Bloom". Fourth track "The Line" has slight nods towards the bands friendship, professional relationship, and undoubted respect for Mansun's Paul Draper. Despite Draper being an influence on their younger years, and a confidant currently, the similarities are fleeting and this track cannot be mistaken for anything else but what will inevitably come to be known as classic Menace Beach.

Words - Gary Sykes

'Super Transporterreum' is released on 25th September via Memphis Industries

Menace Beach official