Madnomad - Tamper Evident

  by Anthony Dhanendran

published: 22 / 4 / 2003

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Review

Madnomad (or rather, the group of people behind Madnomad) is the latest in a long line of Bristolian oddballs. The signs coming out of the city all point to a thunderstorm hurtling up the M32 past the flat-pack warehouses and the gig venues the students don’t make it to. At its head, like a ten-eyed Odin, are the five piece electropunk act Chikinki, but riding alongside astride a bolt of lightning is the Thor-like gestalt figure of the Madnomad. 'Tamper Evident', the band’s debut album, is somewhat like a trip through time. There are parts of it that are about pasts and futures, but the sense of seasonal change is striking. From the lush spring walk of the title track, through (obviously) '35 Summers', to the Autumnal hurricanes of 'Sun of Sod' and 'Let’s Kill the Pig'. The opening track, 'Direct Evidence Against Uniqueness', is a fairly good example of what is to come – a Californian slice of rapped vocals over summery synths and guitars, telling the story of Frank. The occasional Brit-tinges in the accents only add to the sense of confusion. 'Is This It' is a bass-heavy shout-workout, and 'Ad Nauseam' begins as a 1950s jazz-bass spoken word piece and descends into a polemic against “assholes” of all kinds – “Why should I tolerate anything I don’t care for, for any length of time?” is the central question of the song, and the central point of the album – Madnomad won’t let convention or politeness get in the way of the music. The title track features Chikinki’s Rupert Browne on vocals, and is a much calmer experience after the jackhammer shock of the first three tracks. It doesn’t last long, though – the next few tracks undulate between the heavy and light sides of the Madnomad collective temperament. The most interesting songs are the ones where they accomplish both in the space of the one song – particularly Love is Sometimes Colder Than Ice and 35 Summers, both of which make use of sampled movie vocals. In lesser hands the overuse of long samples would seem clumsy, but here it works. Twice. In short, this album is uncategorisable – swaying wildly between rock, jazz, glitch electronica and nostalgic pop, it’s an exhausting listen once you’ve been through the entire shorter-than-it-seems 43 minutes. Make sure you time your next visit to Bristol to coincide with one of Madnomad’s legendary live shows.

Track Listing:-

1 Direct Evidence Against Uniqueness
2 It Is This
3 Ad Nauseam
4 Tamper Evident
5 Let's Kill The Pig
6 Love Is Something Colder Than Ice
7 The Drunkard's Song
8 Period
9 Thanx
10 35 Summers
11 II Peter
12 Longest Road
13 Gun Of Sod