Album Review: ABCD by Melanie

During the great summer lockdown of 2020 I found myself with a lot of time to search through Bandcamp discovery checking out new bands. An absolute favourite of mine was New Zealand’s jangly indie pop punk band Melanie. I absolutely loved their debut album, 42 Losers, it even found a place into my top ten of the year. In 2021, they released 42 Losers on vinyl and I would hazard a guess that I am the only person in the UK who owns it (thanks largely to the band very kindly helping me out with shipping costs). On January 26th of this year, Melanie release a brand new four track EP titled ABCD. I was very keen to see how the band follows up 42 Losers.

ABCD kicks off with All Talk, No Trousers. I’m always a sucker for a quiet introduction that leads into a big explosion and that’s exactly what Melanie do here. What is extra enjoyable about this intro though is the urgency that James Dentice sings with. This urgent tempo remains throughout the song and keeps you hooked. The song is about not living up to the standards you set yourself and the feelings that that brings. Next up is the EP’s lead single, Brains. If you haven’t checked out the excellent video for this song then you can do so here. On my first listen of the song it was obvious why Melanie picked this song for the first single. The track starts loudly, really grabbing you, before James’ vocals come in and offer a more melodic path for the song to travel down. James’ vocals do a magnificent job in telling a story and taking you along for the ride. It’s about the struggle of not fitting in and feeling as if you are being held down by oppressive people. As the song continues, the emotion and anguish becomes stronger, really adding to the turmoil that the character is going through.

The penultimate track is titled Cold Feet. The emotion is turned up to eleven to start the song, grabbing the listener’s attention in a different way. There’s a lot more crunch to the song than on the previous two tracks with Joe Gasparich’s drumming really standing out, powering the song forward. James demonstrates that he is equally adept in the shouting style of singing as well the more melodic side. There is a guitar solo midway through the song that is either played by James or the band’s other guitarist, Robin Davey Rusk, that shreds as well as any technical skate punk band does. A Wilhelm Scream would be very pleased with it. ABCD is completed with Delivery Boy, the only track on the EP to go over three minutes (and two for that matter). There’s so much going on in this song. It starts with James doing his best Kristopher Roe impression before the whole band come in with a plodding beat and some big gang vocals. Then, without warning, the tempo is upped and we get to the main portion of the track. I’d say this is the most uptempo of the four tracks on ABCD and also one of the catchiest. It won’t be long until it gets stuck in your head, that’s for certain. As the track begins to wind down, the tempo comes down slightly and we are treated to a grand finale outro that is just epic. A very fitting way to finish the song and the entire EP.

If ABCD doesn’t place very highly in my favourite EPs of 2022 then it’s been the best year for new music ever. I seriously encourage every single one of you reading this review to go and check out Melanie. One, because they’re a seriously good band who deserve your attention and, two, so they can gain a massive UK fanbase so that they can come tour over here and I can finally see them. Thanks.

Follow Melanie’s Bandcamp here, ready for when ABCD is released.

Like Melanie on Facebook here.

This review was written by Colin Clark.