Mind Spiders: Meltdown
With the it’s second album, Meltdown, the Mind Spiders remain true to their unique blend of pop punk and noise rock. If you can imagine a cross between Blink 182 and the Jesus and Mary Chain, along with a little Alice Cooper thrown in for good measure, you’d get a good idea of the Mind Spiders sound.
The album’s opening track “You Are Dead” opens with a full throttle punk guitar riff and never lets up. In “On the Radio,” the Mind Spider create a party ready anthem, blending a crunch heavy rhythm guitar, melodic organ melodies and a less is more vocal style. The Mind Spiders features two drummers and on tracks like “Play You Out” and “Upside Down” you really get a feel for how the rhythm section drives the band.
Unfortunately towards the end of the album, Meltdown, take a turn and becomes much more theatrical. Here the Mind Spiders get away from they do best. One example the instrumental “Meltdown” feels almost like steam punk elevator music, and makes the album seem as if it has just run out of gas.
Overall I would say Meltdown is a well balanced album, and when the Mind Spiders stay true to their noise punk roots they can be a great band, but when Meltdown ventures a little to far into the experimental, it runs out of steam.
Rating: 7.0/10
MP3: Mind Spiders “On The Radio”
Buy: iTunes or Insound! Vinyl