:: Madina Lake - From Them, Through Us, To You

Madina Lake

Having gained notoriety through their appearance on the television show ‘Fear Factor’ (twins Nathan (Vocals) and Matthew (Bass) Leone not only competed on the show, but won, with the prize money being used to get their band up and running), and garnishing some attention through their independently released six-track E.P. ‘The Disappearance Of Adalia’ last year, the debut full-length effort from Chicago based emo/punk rock act Madina Lake has a lot to live up to. And in no uncertain terms, it delivers. Although loosely based around the concept of the disappearance/murder of local socialite Adalia in the fictional setting of Madina Lake in 1951, Madina Lake manage to keep the album interesting enough on the musical front alone, with the dozen tracks on the album some of the best emo/punk rock to emerge from the scene in quite some time.

After an uncredited two minute long violin/piano/sampled introduction piece, the band launch into their current single/promotional video ‘Here I Stand’. The track itself is a good indication for what’s in store for the rest of the album, with huge choruses and simplified guitar work combined to work within the standard punk/pop framework without trying too hard. Although a little cliché and unoriginal, Madina Lake do manage to make it sound fun and infectious, which is no mean feat in itself. The faster paced ‘In Another Life’ and ‘Adalia’ give the album a little more variety from the opener with good results, while the Muse influenced ‘House Of Cards’, the powerful ‘Stars’, ‘Pandora’ and the programming enhanced ‘River People’ shows a little more depth to Madina Lake song writing, without sounding like a too much of a stretch or coming across as deliberate diversions from the norm to the rest of the album.

The group’s debut single ‘One Last Kiss’ is an obvious choice with its catchy chorus and edgier guitar sounds, while tracks such as ‘Morning Sadness’ and the heavy ‘True Love’ keep up the experimentation within the band. If you put aside the preconceptions surrounding Madina Lake claim to rising stardom aside, ‘From Them, Through Us, To You’ is actually quite a likeable album, and one of the better examples of what the emo/punk rock scene has to offer today.