Midnight Juggernauts – Dystopia

Woah!

Midnight Juggernauts’ album Dystopia was released Saturday the 4th. I went and bought it on the day and have had a few days time to listen through it. I have to say, it has some standout tracks, but overall… I feel it’s fairly mediocre! Which is a shame. I hastily handed over the $30 and gleefully accepted the brown paper bag containing my prize from my local Music Shop, but was thoroughly nonplussed after my first listen.

I thought to myself, “Remember Owen, this happened when you first heard Shadows from the Shadows EP on JJJ…” and remembered how utterly confused I was by it. It sounded nothing like Raised by Wolves or any of the other tracks from their self-titled EP, though after a few listens, it definitely grew on me; Tombstone is definitely the best song on that EP; if not one of their best.

Unfortunately though, I think that’s part of the problem. You see, on the thirteen-track Dystopia, there are eight previously unreleased tracks; one of which is an intro track, one of which is a noise/filler track with no substance, and one of which is a very short two-minute experimental track. So basically, of the thirteen-tracks, you’re only getting five new songs for your money. Well, if you include the bonus CD, you’re actually getting nine new tracks (two of which are remixes, and one live) for your money, from a total of nineteen.

Stand-out songs are Ending of an Era (heard it on JJJ), Road to Recovery (been on their MySpace for months), Nine Lives (a new track that impressed me by being more electronic than trance), and Jump The Gun (quite dancy, very much a bop-along song), from the bonus CD.

So, I’m going to listen through the album a few more times over and hope that the other songs which don’t seem to grab my attention at the moment manage to grow on me. I dearly hope that they do. If not, seeing them play live at the end of the month is sure to galvanise my appreciation of the tracks I already love, and perhaps improve my opinion on the ones I may not grow fond of. Hearing Midnight Juggernauts live impressed me so much last time I listened to their two EPs over and over and over again for the millionth time.

I hold high hopes.