EP REVIEW: Maisonette – Panic Earth (INiiT Records)
Maisonette are from Brighton and describe themselves as a ‘three-piece post-hardcore/emo band.
They’re more than that. Much, much more. In fact, they’re one of the best young punk bands I’ve heard in a while.
This is their first physical release after last year’s digital-only single Burn The Past (available as a ‘name your price’ download from their Bandcamp page).
It’s available now via London-based DIY punk label INiiT Records as a limited edition CD (or to download, if you prefer).
For your fiver you get four slices of modern punk rock, which owe as much to hardcore as they do to emo, with a dash of pop-punk.
They trade in snarled vocals, big choruses, crunching guitars and a bludgeoning, locked-in rhythm section.
In your face
Mental health, anxiety, alienation and a search for identity are explored across a set of sonically diverse tracks.
The EP opens with the melodic Lifeboat, whose quiet-loud formula evokes thoughts of Nirvana, complete with huge, heavy riffs.
My Tired Brain is more in your face from the off, and the shards of guitar remind me very much of prime era Pixies.
The pace slows again with Constant, whose throbbing bassline doesn’t abate throughout, but they save the best ’til last.
Final track I Feel So Empty is the standout song, anthemic and full of attitude, just what you need to end a live set on a high.
Maisonette remind me a lot of Manchester upstarts Aerial Salad (whose 2020 album Dirt Mall is reviewed here).
They have plenty of melodic moments but can also really let it rip.
Punk’s certainly not dead as long as bands as good as this are coming through. Let’s hope the elders of the scene give them every encouragement.
Maisonette are Ryan Mansell (vocals/guitar), Karim Lahmari (bass) and Ben Turner (drums), and I like them a lot. 8/10.
