MadOhm | Until the lights go out

Family Average: 2/7

It is getting mighty spooky up on the blog today. Probabally because of this MadOhm character. Join us as we journey through the dark and scary woods. Theres only music here the sweet sweet sounds of MadOhm. Lets see what the family had to say.

Listen along on Spotify as you check out what we had to say:

Get your eyeliner out, and dust off your turn of the century top hat we are in emo country folks. That was my initial thought when I dove into this guy, but it seemed to unfold into some unexpected directions. The vocals were reminiscent of Philip Oakey of The Human League. That kind of driving low punchy sounding vocals that was super popular with all of them new wave bands. There were also some weird kinda techno-tronic sounds which I was less into. I feel kinda detached from the album on the whole, they seem to take it very seriously which is all well and good but I could not. This is of no fault of their own. Personally I would rather just a little more campy, and a little less dark and edgy.

3/7

During the first listen of this album, I initially heard similarities between Madohm the short-lived band And Then There Were None – known for their song “Thank the Watchmaker” – but then I realized these guys have sounds all their own. And I mean sounds – a fistful of distinct, unique sounds; intriguing, but could have been more cohesive. There are definitely instances where Madohm’s sonic gambles shine. On certain songs, notably “Paper Grenades” and “The Wish”, Madohm creates a true identity as an artist, one that I wish there was more of on this album. “Paper Grenades” is the strongest track, a perfect opener that sucks you in with synthy strings and a thumping vocal performance. “The Wish” reminded me of old-school Thirty Seconds to Mars, as the leader sings over commanding beats.  “Through With Being Cool” had an interesting beat at the beginning, but the breakdown of the song was disappointing and its hard to maintain interested longer than a minute into the song. And on “Until the Lights Go Out”, the most it felt like the lyrics worked against the rest of the song. It dragged the song down. Madohm clearly have distinct beats and melodies that they like to stick with, but do they make sense? They could make more sense. I kept thinking this was going to swell into a triumphant album – within each song you felt like there should be growth, there should be some sort of connective string of sound running through this LP. I guess the string snapped somewhere.

3/7

Meghan Maldjian: The beginning of the album felt like Neon Trees or New Order synth pop, new wave type deal but with like an undeniable lingering mid 2000s pop punk vibe .Then boom “Fire, Fire” they just brought out those guitars and realized their angsty pop-punkness. Felt like mall music, like in stores where they can’t get the rights to the real band and they make their own, that like satisfies the shoppers cus its kind of like the popular music they know but it’s just like the storebrand version, or like the android emojis.
 

2/7

Right off the bat I got some serious Muse vibes. I think they are striving for a very distinct aesthetic and sound as a group, but that attempt at cohesion seemed to disintegrate with each new song. The album as a whole felt a bit erratic, and a lot of the lyrics seemed to be trying to catapult the songs into more edgy,and introspective ballads. As I said, it just felt like they were trying to emulate Muse, and because of that, I was left craving more striking guitar and vocals. Instead, I was served swirling piano melodies with strings attached. The strongest track seemed to be “Paper Grenades,” which had a good hook and beat that was catchy enough to warrant another listen. All in all, these guys gave it a great shot, but it just wasn’t for me.

3/7