“The wheels have gone and fallen off,” announces Ryan Needham on the Nirvana-ish title-track of Leeds scrappers Menace Beach’s debut album. It’s a recurring theme on the gritty, low-slung ‘Ratworld’, which finds the five-piece cackling nihilistically as everything around them crumbles into disarray. “Lately I’ve been wondering if the world could break down”, begins the Britpoppy ‘Come On Give Up’, before urging, ”Fuck everything you ever wanted to be/ Come on, give up, get lost with me”. Between ‘Infinite Donut’, which injects early Pixies grunge with snarling attitude, ‘Dig It Up’ – a two-minute blast of shoegaze transcendence – and rampaging punk joyride ‘Lowtalkin’, there’s plenty ot get lost in here. Menace Beach’s debut may relish a world on the brink of chaos, but this is a band with their shit together.
Menace Beach – ‘Ratworld’
Words by Al Horner
