Madmartigan - Toys & Candy

Madmartigan

Toys & Candy
self-released; 2015

3.5 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The four piece band Madmartigan have been together since 2011 and have had two releases so far. In 2014 they released Dracula​(​s) and just recently released Toys & Candy. The music they play is fairly straight forward rock that could fall into the category of pop punk. Madmartigan have a mainstream accessibility while stiff having a slight edge that makes their music engaging.

The EP starts with “Every Star is Gone” which is the most predictable song out of three. It adheres to pop punk 101 aesthetics and does little to establish much more than that. The strongest aspect of the song is the lyrics which is ambiguous, poetic and broad. He sings “And who would've thought we'd be... Escaping so frantically? Like we just pulled a bank job But our pockets are empty.”

“Howl of the Minotaur” is a step up in every aspect from the first song. The guitar riffs are more inventive, there is a symphonic element to the song and the vocalist give a better vocal performance. I loved the way the song started with a jagged guitar and a disjointed beat. As the song progresses there a surplus of changes including one which reminded me of the band Tool. The song doesn’t contain a lot of lyrics but is still prolific. I thought the opening line “We grew apart, it's nothing supernatural. And I never start anything I will finish” was one of the vocalist best lines.

The band has more success with “Paper Thin.” It was a  spacious song where you can hear all the elements. The guitar and bass lines work especially well on this song. “Paper Thin” is the longest track on the but also the most dynamic.

Despite a head scratching opener the band goes two for three with Toys & Candy. The band is obviously talented but still could use some work defining a sound. They show some interesting cross blending of genres within the last two songs but seems like it’s not quite perfected yet. Toys & Candy is a solid offering from the band but think their best work probably lies ahead.

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