Funny how what constitutes retro changes. I’m not yet 40, but the term wasn’t even common parlance when I was growing up and discovering music. There were all kinds of revivals, mind you, but some time, probably around the turn of the millennium, the 60s and 70s made major comebacks and suddenly we had ‘retro chic’. What goes around comes around, and before I knew it the era of my childhood and which I’d never really left became the next ‘retro’ fad... on discovering the origins of Menace Beach’s name I discover I’m a fucking fossil.
To quote: ‘Back in the good old of days of 1990, Color Dream games released Menace Beach for the then popular NES games console from Nintendo. Imagine skateboarding through a side-scrolling 8-bit world filled with balloons, clowns and disgruntled dockworkers in search of your cute pixilated girlfriend Bunny.’ This is the cultural context of the band, and partly explain why they play surf-indie as if it was being performed by The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Since their emergence, the Leeds supergroup have attracted heaps of positive attention, but having caught them live a couple of times, I’ve not been entirely convinced, and I say that as one of the biggest fans of feedback you’re likely to find. There was – to my mind, at least – something lacking in the material that lurked beneath the squall of treble.
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‘Ratworld’ proves I was wrong. Their breezy indie numbers are perfectly balanced and while they’re light and accessible, they’re far from lacking in craftsmanship in the songwriting stakes. But make no mistake, this a guitar-driven alt-pop album which nods to myriad references in a way that is undeniably cool. ‘Elastic’ sounds like it’s missing an ‘a’, and that’s no criticism. ‘Lowtalkin’’ is an urgent barrage of noise that hits at 100 miles per hour and evokes The Pixies.
The album is brimming with energy and zeal, and yes, it’s also bursting with tunes and, of course, feedback. What’s not to like?
Menace Beach Online
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