Self-released, August 5, 2020
Mars Addict write like their Ramones-loving hearts depend on it.
São Paulo, Brazil’s Mars Addict are a Ramones-loving punk band, dealing in buzzing guitars, quick-paced rhythms, and some fun bubblegum melodies and hooks. There’s no reinventing the wheel on their newest, Lamecoaster. Instead, they’re just trying to make a good wheel, and they mostly pull that off.
A bunch of songs on Lamecoaster land pretty well. My favorite is probably the goofy-titled “Snowboarding With My Dealer”. Behind a great guitar riff and some out-of-nowhere bells that accent the melody, the song bounces along like my favorite version of a 1950’s Christmas song or something. Singers alternate lines and the backing vocals are some of the catchiest I’ve heard in a while and the song ends up as a choice bubblegum punk song. “Scared 2” does the bubblegum thing well, too, with its double-tap snare and catchy as can be chorus of “everybody gets scared too”. And when they go for the faster pop punk sound, they pull that off, too. Both the opener, “Lamecoaster”, and the follow up, “In My Head”, hum along with buzzing guitars, some fast busy bass, quick and agile drums, and some cool lead guitar. “Lamecoaster” has a contagious singalong chorus while the words of “In My Head” are sung in a cadence that immediately lodges in my brain. Even when they ape Ramones, like on the “KKK Took My Baby Away”-rip “Not Your Song”, they are able to sort of make it their own and do well by it.
All that said, there are a couple songs that don’t do it for me. “Chainsaw Hedgemaze Mayhem” (I’m pretty sure my favorite title on the record) moves through a fast sort of panic attack with some darker melodies that sounds a little like Bad Religion, and maybe a dash of Alkaline Trio. But it struggles to fit alongside much of the rest of this stuff. And “Chibi” really changes things up. The galloping drums, guitar melody, and lead all kick up a punk rock western vibe or something. It’s decently catchy and okay, but it feels pretty weird in the middle of the record and kind of throws me off as a result.
On Lamecoaster, Mars Addict do a bunch of good songs and avoid some of the filler and weird experimental detours that can sometimes sink an entire record. Mars Addict are a band to pay attention to.
You might like this if:
- You’re up for another take on the tried-and-true Ramones formula
You might not if:
- You think catchy singalongs are too easy, too pop
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
