Album Review: Malibu Shark Attack – Malibu Shark attack

No More Tears employs a gameboy to play bass, whilst Belfast’s own rapper BeeMickSee pops up to give Tribe One a run for his money. As unique as the project that built this album is, BeeMickSee brings something different and shows he’s not to be out done, locally or globally.

The eponymous Malibu Shark Attack leads us towards the end of the album and Tribe One raps to remind us that they are every bit as good as they’ve spent the last 10 tracks showing us they are.  This track reminds me of 7 weeks by Gym Class Heroes and I mean this in a good way, for the abominations that Travis McCoy thrust upon the charts in later years, he has always been a great lyricist. Moment Of Truth introduces, even at this late stage, a mellotron to the proceedings as well as some trumpets, and Angie McCrisken who has been singing throughout almost the whole album lets her voice take centre stage to lend an ethereal quality to the penultimate track.

The final track Monsters Under Your Bed finishes the album as it started, addressing their fears and delivering a positive message.  The murky voices used in the chorus “monsters under your bed won’t get you, close your eyes and I will protect you” become clearer each time we hear them as the song thunders along and finishes the album with a bang.

Suffice to say that I absolutely love this album, it’s a breath of fresh air. Malibu Shark Attack! is a collaboration which plays to each of the main artist’s strengths without compromising what their fans love about their work.  Tribe One is a story teller first and foremost, here he tells 13 different tales and never gets stale, the guests on the tracks are there to add to the song and help elevate it, it’s not a case of having a guest on just because they’re available. Rock O’Reilly is very good at what he does. Blending multi instrument arrangements with hip hop infused beats, brings something fresh and creates a whole new genre I’m tentatively calling Lovecore – lest we have to say “post new-wave-prog-electronica-indiecore-synthpop -rap” every time – for this obviously is a project fuelled by love on both sides of the Atlantic, and when listening it’s impossible not to hear it.  It’s a testament to the wonderful world of technology that we live in that this album COULD get made, it’s a testament to the artists and the hard work that they put in that it DID get made and that it DOES sound so good.

The album is free to stream or you can pay money to pre-order a copy to download (and you even get a physical copy) over at their BandCamp. Malibu Shark Attack are headlining a Belfast gig at the end of this month, more info here. You can follow them on twitter here as well at @MSharkAttack