Muncie Girls - From Caplan To Belsize (Album Review)
Monday, 07 March 2016
Written by Huw Baines
If you've been to more than a handful of punk shows in the UK in the last few years, there's a decent chance you've seen Muncie Girls play. If not, you've probably been told to search them out. They're part of the furniture.
And that makes 'From Caplan to Belsize' all the more gratifying. Across a series of EPs and splits they set out in pencil their giddy fusion of hooks and outward-looking politics, with album one, recorded with Lewis Johns at The Ranch in Southampton, putting things down in ink.
Since their earliest thrashings, Muncie Girls have maintained a firm hold on what they are about. A song like Kasper and Randow, from ‘Revolution Summer’, for example, could idly slot in anywhere here. The cumulative effect is a satisfying sense of promise fulfilled, but also of a lasting attention to detail.
Muncie Girls continue to trade in brisk, effective melodies that gradually reveal their true nature; they are a band whose immediate songwriting gifts only grow more infectious over time. That's particularly true of Nervous and I Don’t Want To Talk about it, where Lande Hekt's rich vocals spar beautifully with Dean McMullen’s washed out guitars.
‘From Caplan to Belsize’ is also a record about changing our surroundings and pushing for personal freedom of expression. On Respect, Hekt demands a response to rape culture and rampant sexism, in the punk scene, wider music landscape and beyond. “For the next few years you can laugh and joke about your next victim,” she sings. “But when you’re all grown up and your daughter cries, you’ll be sorry you did this.”
Throughout there are calls to better understand the machinations of the world around us, whether that's becoming politically engaged through your own learning, understanding the tenets and benefits of a DIY attitude or refusing to let past social advances wither through apathy.
Muncie Girls go about things with eyes wide open. It helps, of course, that the songs that make up ‘From Caplan to Belsize’ really stack up. This is a sparkling bow from a band with enough miles on the clock to make the most of the wide spaces ahead of them.
Muncie Girls Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue March 08 2016 - LONDON Lexington
Thu March 10 2016 - EXETER Cavern
Fri March 11 2016 - BRIGHTON Sticky Mikes Frog Bar
Click here to compare & buy Muncie Girls Tickets at Stereoboard.com.
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