EP REVIEW: Dead Nature – The Man Motels

Cape Town rock trio THE MAN MOTELS are back with their latest EP Dead Nature, a release that, in the band’s own words, represents a way to push through trauma. Frontman Garrith Holloway said: “When experiencing trauma, the best way to keep moving forward (at times, and in my own opinion) is to create somewhat of a “Dead Nature” around yourself. It’s like a dead space, disconnecting you from any form of emotion, and any possible future pain.” So, with that in mind, and with their spin on the punk rock genre, what we have before us is an EP that oozes confidence and, despite only having four songs, leaves a lasting effect long after your first listen.

Opening with Sports, the first thing we hear is fast electronic rock with a focus on bass and sound effects, and when joined by confident vocals what we have is a song that leaves you intrigued and excited for more as the intensity builds. As THE MAN MOTELS move into a sound that’s more within blues rock territory you can’t help but visualise live shows with the band wearing leather jackets and sunglasses, simply coming off as effortlessly cool.

Moving onto The Fever, the band treat listeners to their own take on alternative rock. Starting out with guitar followed by the full band joining in, the chemistry is undeniable, and everything comes across as laid back, yet so cool, like this talent just comes naturally to them. The title track, which is probably the strongest on the EP, is just pure adrenaline that leaves you excited. Everything builds up with intensity using bouncy rhythms that then pays off with an anthemic chorus that one can easily picture a crowd happily singing, or rather shouting, back to the band performing it live.

As we, sadly, reach the final song Young Father, the band turn to the more punk rock side of the spectrum that once again produces visualisations of crowd in pure euphoria as they jump and dance scream back the lyrics. To add effect, we have a sudden stop-start that for a split second has us going “No, wait, that can’t be it!” before returning to the earlier state of happiness as the song continues.

There are a few words that immediately come to mind when trying describe Dead Nature, all of which roughly translate into cool and confident. THE MAN MOTELS may have only given us four songs here yet so much happens in the short time listening to them that you are still left in awe.

Rating: 9/10

Dead Nature is out now via Mongrel Records.

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