Album Review: Mother Vulture - Cartoon Violence
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Following up 2022’s Mother Knows Best debut was not going to be an easy feat for Bristol’s Mother Vultures, especially after that record had opened such touring doors as dates with Skindred, Reef and Feeder, among others, and festival appearances at Steelhouse, ArcTanGent and Bloodstock Open Air.
Garnering praise from Kerrang! Magazine, who gave them the label of being "one of Britain's most exciting new noises"; with Distorted Sound even calling them "The new kings of British rock music", Mother Vulture have great expectations resting on their shoulders for this sophomore release.
Advance single, Phoenix, is as straightforward a rocker as you could expect to hear, filled with catchy riffs and earworm guitars, it conjures the image of the road whizzing beneath your wheels, fuelled by a big, unstoppable chorus.
You could even be forgiven for thinking Cartoon Violence would find Mother Vulture playing into that style after pressing Play and being introduced to opener, Mike Check, a big rock & roll statement of the old school and the dirty, with a bit of psychedelia sprinkled in for good measure. Sufferin’ – Succotash! has frenzied, flailing guitars and excentric vocals to go alongside the hints of a snotty punk attitude and a scorching solo; that abrasive approach comes more fully into focus on Treadmill, which combines punk aesthetics with relentless rhythms and danceable grooves.
There’s an adventurous and rebellious spirit at the heart of Cartoon Violence and – I dare say – in the hearts of Mother Vulture too, as it soon becomes evident that the band don’t seem to have any desire to conform to a genre label. Double Down is built from the sort of Eighties sleezy beats that would ooze along the LA Strip, featuring a guitar tone that has no earthly place being heard before midnight has chimed. Knuckles shows us what the band’s rhythm section is all about, bass-led and a little playful until the guitar comes and kills it during the closing section. Mountain of Youth closes things down with an alternative approach, layer-vocals and a damn good time.
Cartoon Violence’s three most interesting moments come dotted across the running time. Slow Down arrives after Treadmill, a huge riff and a slow, brooding tempo. The chorus drops like a bomb, guitars spiral as they creep and crawl in one of the record’s most unexpected moments. The Masquerade follows and – for me – is the album’s highlight; seven-minutes-plus of epic, Zeppelin-inspired tuneage – luscious and bombastic, its heroism exists in its combinations of light and dark, of fast and slow, of heavy and lilting.
As the record draws to its climax, Mother Vulture give us one more curveball in the form of La Matadora’s instrumental noodle-fest. From Spanish, through acoustic to full-on shred, this is a journey into the limits of the instrument and its exponent.
Following the release of Cartoon Violence the band head out on tour, with a reputation for delivering lives shows full of energy and unbridled ferocity, earning them comparisons to the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan for their explosive performances. With these new tracks locked and loaded, I don’t imagine restraint will be the order of the day.
