Midnight Express
The Body Rampant's new record Midnight Mayfair aims to imbue a highfalutin' concept about man lost within his own mind with hooks and humanity but the slick radio hardcore contained within suggests more a man lost within a big out of town mall. Visually, the band are all Ralph Steadman's illustrations for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, aurally it's more Jared Leto and 30 Seconds to Mars or My Chemical Romance but far from Gorilla Biscuits.
The songs are packed with detail: lots of guitar textures and multi-tracked vocals but generally the songs seek to serve the frequent huge choruses - Apparita feels like one enormous chorus collage. Anyway, when this goes right it does sound great like on opener Dirtnap's post-rock infused wandering and when they catch a bit of Cave In's vapour trail on Through Your Head. Elsewhere, Ghostown and Woodland up the aggression quotient. Underachiever weaves a big classic rock solo into the suburban grandeur and in all honesty, this music has more in common with classic rock's broad brush approach than the grit of the hardcore scene the band also seem to be fans of.
The five piece have obvious ambition and are attempting to differentiate themselves from the template of softened post-hardcore with bolted on larger-than-life themes but Midnight Mayfair never strays too far from safety. A few alt-rock textures and twisted headgear don't fully allow The Body Rampant to stand out in a crowded marketplace.