The Megaphonic Thrift - Decay Decoy

Close your eyes and think of Norway. That’s it, the beautiful snowy vistas, the breath taking landscape and that chap from A-Ha is probably standing on a hill somewhere, bellowing ‘Take On Me’. So how did this winter wonderland produce a band like The Megaphonic Thrift? They’ve been slowly building towards their debut album, ‘Decay Decoy’, for the best of two years, adapting their sound after a fire destroyed all their original equipment. For once, we can be grateful for a fire.

Starting off with ‘The Undertow’, it’s clear from the beginning that The Megaphonic Thrift aren’t scared to wear their influences on their sleeve, the reverb from Sonic Youth, the J. Mascis drawl. If it weren’t so damn catchy, it all might sound a bit tired. Instead it bristles with life, and perfectly sums up the album. Even better though is single ‘Talks Like A Weed King’. The sparring vocals between Richard Mykleburst and Linn Frokedal add a sultry tension to the song, which, fortunately, seems to focus more on the melody than getting the best reverb out of the lead guitar.

There are two clear stand out songs on the album that are bold statements of what the band are capable of. The first, which you can download from this very site, is ‘Candy Sin’. Just under six minutes, it’s the track where its influences show the most, the hallowing guitars and screamed lyrics circa ’93, but it also shows just how tight the band is playing together. The bridge is essentially just a massive jam that not doesn’t outstay its welcome, but sweeps you in its tidal wave noise before washing you up back in the melody.

The other is ‘Queen Of Noise’, where lead singer Richard Mykleburst is more throwing up lyrics all over the frantic riff, than singing them. And it pulls one hell of a surprise, transforming into a heavy chugging breakdown jam, ending the album the way it started. Brash, fast and overflowing with talent.

Not all of the album is impressively made though, ‘You Saw The Silver Line’ is too ponderous for it’s own good, before launching into another mammoth jam, which doesn’t have ‘Candy Sin’’s infectious hook dangling at the end of the tunnel. It’s also a shame that the album only has two gears. Always loud, just fast loud or slow loud. Textured it is not.

But this is pure guitar music, distilled and bottled in one of those beautiful Norwegian mountains mentioned earlier on. They’re clearly not trying to reinvent the wheel and taken on these terms, not only is the album immensely enjoyable, it’s also remarkably polished for a debut. Sure, its reverb heavy and there is a lot of squealing strings, but it never over powers the melody in a way that makes it a chore to listen to. There are hints here of greater things from The Megaphonic Thrift, but for the time being, they’re a band who seem more than capable of capturing a specific sound and gently teasing out warm and fuzzy feelings from it.