Sometimes you have to sit with an album for a while to properly appreciate it rather than blast off a review and only capture part of the magic. 4 albums in, you see, Midnite City has managed the almost impossible – they’ve managed to top an already impressive first three records with one that could well be the best of their career so far.
Indeed if you loved what you heard since the band burst onto the scene in 2017, then 6 years in they sound bigger and bolder than ever. I’m not going to snatch parts of their bio for this review or recount the accolades they’ve had so far. Instead I’ll just say that if you loved the Self-Titled debut and reveled in the classic ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’ and lapped up 2021’s post pandemic ‘Itch You Can’t Scratch’, then June 2023 should see you dancing in the streets because incredibly ”In At The Deep End’ tops the lot.
The ten tracks here are simply gold, and whilst opener ‘Outbreak/Ready to Go’ is stunningly and gloriously 80’s Hard Melodic Rock replete with huge chorus and wonderful drive, it’s only the beginning of the ride. It’s worth from the offset mentioning that the marriage of Rob Wylde’s songs and Chris Laney’s production is made in heaven. The guitar tones here are glorious and the drums and bass spring crisply from the mix allowing Shawn Charvette to add the accents and Wylde and Miles Meakin to work their respective wonders.
‘Someday’ is a fucking huge song – melodic, uplifting and with a refrain that would have set the charts on fire in the late 80’s it’s easily one of the best Midnite City songs I’ve heard and one that you’ll have on repeat. Were bands like Danger Danger ever quite this good? Or do we have a new star in the Melodic Rock firmament?
Listen at this point, two songs in, I would have gladly laid down my money… That’s all you need to know…
But what’s this? A ballad three songs in? That’s a bold move! But it works, just like every song does here: ‘Hardest Heart To Break’ is probably one of Rob’s best ballads, and as someone who has been following his career for a while that’s a huge call. It’s also the equal longest tune here breaking the 5 and a half minute mark. A radio edit back in MTV days could have seen these guys posters on millions of teenage girls walls!
Every album needs a seed of variety though and that comes in the form of ‘Good Time Music’ – a song that is still true to the 80’s thrust of the album but gives me an odd vibe I can’t quite pinpoint like Poison meets John Cougar Mellencamp! Smooth, inviting and with great harmonies it’s the only song that make me uneasy, maybe a little too glossy? You decide.
‘All Fall Down’ is the sort of song that screams Midnite City and one that will be a huge favourite here. It’s a nice mid-tempo rocker that exemplifies Midnite City’s modern take on Melodic 80’s Hard Rock. It’s got a huge chorus and a killer solo too!
The ‘second half’ of the album Kicks off with ‘Girls Gone Wild’ which as you might imagine is a huge stadium-sized fun rocker that manages to meld Danger Danger, 80’s Kiss and Def Leppard into something that’s completely fun and irresistibly sing-along.
The second ballad ‘Beginning Of The End’ is even more heart-wrenching than ‘Hardest Heart To Break’ and whilst it has a pleasing Def Leppard lilt to the guitars its very firmly all about the refrain. If I could venture on suggestion it is crying out for a huge solo to send it home.
The heaviest song here ‘Raise The Dead’ is another Hard Rocking highlight and shines here, even adding cowbell to send it into overload. Like a lot of Midnite City’s songs I imagine this one being even more incendiary live.
Of the three slow numbers here ‘It’s Not Me It’s You’ is the hugest, it’s an epic worthy of Def Leppard at the height of their powers. It’s the sort of song that you can imagine playing to your girl after an argument and not even needing to say anything more, A heartbreaker, a tear-jerker, a lighter waver and in an alternate reality the biggest ballad of the 80’s!
Closer ‘Like There’s No Tomorrow’ is one of my favourite tracks here – sharper, snappier, and utterly brilliant – there’s a flavour of Rob’s previous band Teenage Casket Company in the construction but make no mistake this is pure Midnite City – catchy as hell and beautifully realised it’s one of the real gems here, and the absolute perfect way to close.
When a band has been together for a while they can either plod along chasing the spark that they had in the early days or become more than the sum of their parts. Midnite City is clearly a band that has grown closer and tighter over the years and they have managed to produce some real magic here. Despite the line-up change at the back, Ryan Briggs has slotted in nicely for Pete ‘Abbey Road’ Newdeck (as we knew him in Australia) and sounds great here; and I could wax lyrical all day about some of the musicianship here! At the end of the day though it’s all about the songs and this album is chock full of some of Midnite City’s very best.
I promised not to quote from the press release but I have to leave you with Rob: ‘It’s not often we can sit back after an album is done and be 100% happy with it. But in this case, we can whole heartedly say that we are. This is the quintessential Midnite City album, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it for you‘. Well I did – how about you guys?
If an album can transport me back to the 80’s every now and again when I close the eyes it’s a great record in my eyes. When it can keep you there for the duration it’s sheer gold! Thanks guys, just don’t forget us all Downunder!
TRACKLIST: Outbreak | Ready to Go | Someday | Hardest Heart to Break | Good Time Music | All Fall Down | Girls Gone Wild | Beginning of the End | Raise the Dead | It’s Not You It’s Me | Like There’s No Tomorrow
