Midwich Cuckoos Rock The Hell Out of Your Speakers with Death Or Glory
4.5 out of 5 stars
The new album from UK rockers, Midwich Cuckoos, is a pretty special blend of hardcore punk, metal and even some glam rock hints here and there.
Now, I usually don’t like much from any of those three genres, because most bands who play in anyone of those three genres tend to make very repetitive music that is indistinguishable from song to song, and it’s hard to understand anything that is happening except for fast music.
However, that doesn't happen with Midwich Cuckoos on their new album Death or Glory. I think you could even classify Midwich Cuckoos in the prog-rock category on this release because that is a bit more inline with what I am used to hearing in those genres.
This is a bit of a double album - as the title Death Or Glory refers to the two sides (a.k.a. “EP’s”) of the album. It has a total of 22 songs, but 9 of them are intros and outros for songs where it is just instrumental setup for the next song.
For me, the best songs on this album come early on. There are good songs on both sides, but I definitely like the first few songs the best.
“Majesty” is definitely a great starter song. The guitars blaze, the drums are banging and crashing with double bass, the vocals have a mix of screaming, talking, and full on singing. It’s a chaotic blend of fast-paced musical magic that really makes you want to jump around like a madman.
It kind of makes sense that this album has songs like this as the band itself is a bit of a melting pot project that came together through reaching out to musicians to add to the songs without having them join the band. Basically, it was a punk-rock collaboration that turned into a full band.
The next song on the album is “Crosses” which is absolutely insane. The dueling vocals (featuring David Rodriguez from The Casualties) and the ridiculous energy in the song make it an instant favorite. Also, the puppets in the music video are pretty hilarious as a contradiction to what the song sounds like.
“Hourglass” is definitely full of prog-rock sentimentality. The harmonized guitars and speed drums mixed with a more gravelly vocal performance by singer Tanzy Velayne makes it quite proggy…and that’s not a bad thing. I love prog-rock.
“You Used To Be Cool” has hints of the old metal and hair bands of the 90’s and late 80’s. I dare say it is borderline Glam Punk. That is until it hits the bridge where it gets REALLY metal.
One of my favorite songs from the latter half of the album is “Freddie” as it shows a bit of range in the band as does the song “Milk Tears” that has much more mellowed out verses.
I won’t spoil every song on the album by talking about them too much. I think this is an album that you really just have to hear to get what I am talking about.
Check out their music videos as well.