The UK ‘punk’ scene is currently enjoying a bit of a resurgence. Despite losing a number of its leading lights (Consumed, Lightyear et al) there is plenty of fresh blood coming through and a good number of established bands still going strong. My Deaf Audio have been around for quite a while, but are hardly household names. The phrase ‘Always the bridesmaid, Never the bride’ seems quite apt in their predicament.
Having toured with the likes of Phinius Gage and grabbing support slots with high profile bands, you would have thought that My Deaf Audio‘s current UK profile would have been a little healthier than it is. However, for one reason or another, they have missed out on the praise lavished on their compatriots and have continued to linger just under the radar.
There’s problem a number of reasons for MDA being consistently overlooked, but first of all I’ll deal with the reasons why they should no longer be subjected to this particular injustice. First of all, they sure know how to write a good a catchy tune. Opener ‘Faultlines’ screeches out of the stereo and ‘The Girl With No Name’, the second song on the album, has one of the catchiest, most delightful choruses you will hear all year. The band then deserts their Hot Water Music-esque leanings to speed things up considerably and enter Belvedere style tech punk territory, a style change which they pull off admirably.
However, it all gets a bit old a bit quickly. As talented as this band are at squeezing out crunchy guitar riffs coated in vocal melodies, there isn’t enough musical progression in these 11 songs to warrant extended listens. There’s a sober quality to most of the songs that kind of cancel out any urgency or passion that could or should be flowing. That is until the final song where they suitably kick out the jams and go out on a high.
There isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with this CD, in fact the majority of the songs are pleasant, yet rocking singalongs. The problem I have is that there’s not enough variety or individuality in either the bands music as a whole or the songs when compared to each other to raise My Deaf Audio merely above the ‘Quite Good’ notch on the bar.
Ross