Madame Psychosis - MPS (self-released)

MP3? Very clever. Do you see what Madame Psychosis has done to create the short and snappy title for this, their third full album? No? Well, I’m sure you’ll work it out. If not, no matter.

While it takes more than a clever title to make an album, Madame Psychosis has already proven that they are very much front runners within the realms of well-crafted, accessible, melodic rock music. So let them have their titular fun; we know that it is not going to be at the expense of the music. Anything but.

Indeed, just take the opening brace of songs, “I’ll Go” and “Anywhere with You,” again, a clever opening couplet, the former acting as the prequel to what follows, the titles acting as two halves of a whole, and taken together a great exercise in big and dynamic, infectious and anthemic music, music that covers a lot of sonic ground and which could easily find itself veering from its usual rock and roll tack and into more mainstream-friendly waters.

All of this sets the template for what is to follow: an album of music that stays true to rock and roll traditions but repackages them for a more contemporary, more broadminded, more mainstream audience. The sound of the underground storming the overground.

“Lucky” has the perfect blend of snarling rock and roll riff and power-pop contagion. “Charlie’s Story is a blistering tune draped in sonic finesse and musical finery and carrying the darkest of messages. “Concrete Streets” (which I believe is where I first encountered them) is a blend of spacious understatement and ornate rock salvos.

If classic rock is often stuck in the past and alt-rock too impenetrable for its own good, Madame Psychosis offers a third path: music that is big, brash, occasionally bombastic, consistently brilliant but which, in terms of accessibility, out pops most pop and out classes most indie music. This is a brilliant place to position yourself in the modern musical landscape.

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