There’s something enjoyable about ‘Show Your Teeth’, the second offering from the North-West based Make Like Madeline. Maybe it’s the cavalcade of rolling riffs. Maybe it’s the thunderously machine-gun like drums. Or maybe it’s just that the lyrics are fun to be around (“Béla Lugosi ain’t got shit on me!” indeed). Any way you look at it, this four-tracker has some teeth.
Bridging the gap between hardcore punk and good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, ‘Show Your Teech’ is besieged with that ‘Southern’ rock sound that’s doing the rounds. There’s a dirtiness that encompasses the guitar licks. Vocals flit between throat-scraping and harmonic. Drums simply steamroller their way over a dozen minutes. For every token hardcore moment there’s a muddied knee influenced by the likes of Aerosmith. So, whereas ‘The Nines’ puts you in mind of Lower Than Atlantis in one breath, it’ll sucker you with a Mötley Crüe moment here or there. Whereas ‘Show Your Teeth’ depicts a Gallows influence, ‘The Ballard of Branden Walker’ has a Scott Weiland approach to it.
In truth, this isn’t a sound exclusive to MLM, but it’s played with such pomp that it becomes much more agreeable. Whether this could be sustained over the course of a full length album isn’t as clear but on the measure of these four tracks the band has things just about right to prick the ears and to make itself more than a little noteworthy.
Sit this one nicely next to the likes of The Smoking Hearts, None The Less, Spycatcher and The Plight. Hardcore rock ‘n’ roll done nice and dirty.
Alex