Northampton (UK) based rockers The Marabar Caves have just released their latest single, Suicide Mission. A rock/punk explosion of guitars and fun from a bunch of guys who are clearly living their best lives.
The Marabar Caves describe themselves as returning to music and performing after a lengthy hiatus and it sure sounds as though they are glad to be back.
Suicide Mission is a punky, almost garage rock track that absolutely smacks of energy and enthusiasm. There’s a lot happening in the song and it really keeps you on your toes.
The first time there’s a tempo change in the song, you might panic and be concerned that the drummer got a little lost, but bear with these guys, it was totally intentional! We like that this song keeps you guessing.
With different tempo sections and varying instrumentation in each section, Suicide Mission takes several listens to really get the hang of, but once you’re there – it won’t leave your head for hours! The key change is a nice touch as well, just when you think you’ve got the song’s number!
The lead vocalist is confident and clearly has plenty of swagger, but it’s the layered backing vocals we’re particularly impressed with. Lots of sublime harmonies and oohs and aahs fill out the sound nicely. There’s also a section where the song breaks down a little and you hear some whispered vocals with some interesting echoes on them. This song has so many different facets!
Judging from the video and the general feel of this song, we imagine that The Marabar Caves are a great deal of fun to watch live. They’ve bagged some great support slots with acts like Wilco Johnson and Doctor and the Medics and we can see why.
The Marabar Caves are the perfect opener for these guys. We imagine they rev the audience up enough to make the headline act concerned there’ll be a drop in energy in the room when they go on!
From a production point of view, our personal opinion would be to give a cut in the master at around 100 and 250Hz to alleviate a little boom and mud in the mix. The guitar, especially in the intro, is a little harsh and we’d suggest a cut at around 3kHz. We also noticed that the top octave and a half of the EQ spectrum is only really represented by the sibilance in the vocal track and could do with a boost in the rest of the track. This should make the cymbals sparkle a little more.
Reminiscent in places of REM’s Stand, or the Clash, Suicide Mission is an energetic song with a great live feel to it. We have no doubt that The Marabar Caves will garner some decent bookings from this track and expect to see their tour dates for 2022 and beyond fill up quickly! Go see them if you get the chance.