Madina Lake; Attics To Eden

When the new Madina Lake album dropped onto my doormat at the beginning of the week, I couldn't help but feel a little excited. Having loved their first album, From Them, Through Us To You, I couldn't wait to hear the new material that promised to make Madina Lake a band that defied genre. However, with a link to the infamous Adalia from album number one, my first thoughts were not exactly what most would describe as "positive".

Album opener and first single Never Take Us Alive sounds very typical of the American rockers, but is guaranteed to wedge itself in your head with its catchy melody and similarly intriguing lyrics.

Let's Get Outta Here is where the band begin to move away from the template their first full-length followed closely. With lyrics about seventies discos and depression, one can't help but wonder what the band were thinking during the writing of this song. Whatever it was, it produced a highly listen-able piece of music, so nobody's complaining.

The closest thing to a ballad Attics to Eden has comes in the form of track number five, Through The Pain. With a beautifully haunting opening and equally haunting lyrics such as I've trapped myself in a ring of fire/If I say I'm okay, I'm also a liar., I found myself associating with the metaphors rather than the song itself. But that doesn't stop it from being a brilliant song, possibly one of Madina Lake's best.

If any, the weak point of the album comes in the form of Silent Voices Kill, a rather plain offering from a relatively well-seasoned band, with a melody similar to that of most songs on their first album, it fails to distance itself and prove that it is worth you losing your hearing for. It is a decent song in its own right, but when it is surrounded by songs that are so different and yet scarily similar to each other, it just doesn't succeed in being noticed. But, this doesn't mean Attics fails as an album.

As the final seconds of Lila, The Divine Game - a bizarre collection of white noise, mutterings and unnerving piano riffs - fade away, along with any hope of an obvious sign as to the whereabouts of Adalia, it is impossible not to wonder where the American band will go with their sound next.

All I know for sure is that, while it may not pull them away from it like they'd hoped, Attics to Eden is sure to move Madina Lake away from the pop-punk tag they dislike so much.

Track listing

1. Never Take Us Alive
2. Let's Get Outta Here
3. Legends
4. Criminals
5. Through The Pain
6. Never Walk Alone
7. Not For This World
8. Welcome To Oblivion
9. Silent Voices Kill
10. Statistics
11. Friends And Lovers
12. Lila, The Divine Game