Mother Vulture - Cartoon Violence 
Release Date: Out Now
This album feels like a bit of a moment so I'd urge you to take note of where you are when you first hear it because people will ask you in the future and you don't want be like "uhm, Sainsbury's, I think?". UK rockers Mother Vulture have been buzzing around the lightbulb of success for a little while now but new album 'Cartoon Violence' feels like they've just smashed through the glass and are now feeding fervently on the electricity. But enough of this fanciful stuff, what of the tunes?
We get underway with 'Mike Check', a scramble of cartoon noises and old spoken word that is soon blasted out of the water by a thundering and colossal wall of noise laden with the kind of metal energy, riffs and melodies that are just irresistible if you're wired anything like me. 'Sufferin' Succotash!' opens with a similarly Looney Tunes sample before the devil breaks through Sylvester's body and comes screaming at you with all the rabid intensity of a MAGA voter on election day. 'Treadmill' completes the opening triumvirate with an IDLES meets Iggy Pop riff and the kind of insistent beat that would befit a Jamie Lenman track. There is a lot going on here and we're only three tracks in, let's grab a beer and go again.
'Slow Down' was my single of the year for 2025 and it is still a stand out track due it's stylish but uber dark tones along with the mischievously malevolent vocal tones giving this strong evil circus vibes. Fittingly, 'The Masquerade' follows next with a theatrical edge that reminds me of Erotic Secrets of Pompeii before a riff storm sweeps in over the hills as vocalist Georgi Valentine does his best ring master impression atop a melody that occasionally veers towards Muse-esque. 'Phoenix' starts with a radio friendly alt-rock riff and builds into something that would fly with American hair metal fans before the 'corporate progamming' interlude catches you off guard with a little recorded message a la US local radio.
With 'Double Down' we're off and running again with swagger, style, and some superb lead guitar work from axeman Brodie Maguire while recent single 'Knuckles' gets underway with a probing and thrusting bass line that sets the tone for a song which paints a temptingly dystopian soundscape. On 'Bedbugs' the quartet turn everything up to 11 and give us the kind of song that could straddle the music world with enough commerciality for the American markets but the kind of spirit that will appeal to the more discerning European listener. We then get one more tuning interlude with 'for years i've been searching' before the final course is dished up.
'Mountain Of Youth' is the album closer and, honestly, it might as well be the world closer for all I'm concerned. The first 30 seconds are as big and stadium ready as anything Foo Fighters or Biffy Clyro have served up and then we're off on a careering rock'n'roll joyride full of vocal harmonies, melodies, riffs, beats, uplifting energy and the sound of a cartoon anvil at some point. And that's the crux of this album - the chaos of Animaniacs, the fourth-wall breaking looks to camera of Bugs Bunny, the indefatigable ambition of Wile E. Coyote and incomprehensible sexual energy of Roger & Jessica Rabbit. With riffs. Album of the year potential? Hard yes.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/MotherVulture/
Live Dates:
31st January - Phoenix, Exeter w/Native James + Big Lava
7th February - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
12th February - The Joiners, Southampton
20th February - Audio, Glasgow
21st February - Corporation, Sheffield
27th February - Satans Hollow, Manchester
28th February - Rough Trade, Nottingham
6th March - Community Centre, Alton
7th March - Rough Trade East, London