ALBUM REVIEW: Business – The Meffs
You can say the second album is always the tricky one. Back in 2024, one of the UK’s most exciting punk bands; THE MEFFS released their brilliant debut album, What A Life. Since then they have taken the punk scene by storm with incendiary shows in sold out rooms and rubbed shoulders with the likes of ALICE COOPER and punk rock royalty; JOAN JETT. This year sees the release of their latest offering, Business. Spoiler alert, it is fucking awesome. The Broken Britain EP’s and What A Life built the foundations but Business has seen the band level up in the best ways possible. From start to finish, it is a tour de force of pure punk packed with heavy riffs, thunderous drumming and the signature snarl we have come to love so dearly about them.
There is no messing about for the opening track, as soon as this song starts, you can tell THE MEFFS have upped their game since 2024. No theatrical opening, we are launched straight into the fray at 100mph with Dreamin’. We are greeted with a great drum beat before a punchy guitar rattles our ear drums and frontwoman Lily joins in with some snarling lyrics. The whole song itself lasts just over a minute, but it gets you moving, your blood pumping and ready for business as you’re screaming “DREEEAAAMINNNN’” along with it. There is no time to waste as we are greeted with a beautiful opening riff of What A Nightmare. A damning indictment of the current state of the country and how it is barrelling into right wing lunacy and THE MEFFS are here with this track to help us channel our anger with theirs and fight back at the abhorrent views of these people, if you can even call them that. The song itself has a truly delectable bounce to it that will easily whip crowds in live settings. Where Did It All Go Wrong? continues these sentiments but ups the ante somehow which didn’t seem possible and sees the duo at their absolute best as they make you yearn for mosh pits as they once again tackle the way the world is going whilst seeing some of the finest vocals that frontwoman Lily has offered.
The kickass riffs continue and the intensity rises with the titular track, Business. It brings in that true style that THE MEFFS excel at. They can create incredible moments of anger but combine that perfect wit and well placed sarcasm as they take aim at the music industry and other businesses and how they want those to conform to their standards. Lily and Lewis are here to give those types the middle finger and stand their ground and be themselves, inspiring others to do so. It’s pure punk at its absolute finest. The riffs and drums stay with you for a long while after as it becomes one of many highlights this album has to offer. Now, whilst there are many highlights on this record, Law is possibly the best of the lot. This time, the duo are tackling systemic issues and how very 1984-esque it all feels and how they’re rotten to the core and once again try and convince us to conform whilst stripping the rights away from others. The lyricism is perfect and is easily one of The MEFFS’ best songs to date, possibly their best one to date. The heaviness is perfect and doesn’t feel forced, you can feel the genuine feelings of anger that seeps through the lyrics and fills you with a righteous anger. Fight follows on with a forty five second burst of energy that offers a release for those listening, it’s fun, heavy and almost makes you feel the sweat of a mosh pit.
Disorder (Wake Up) sees a return of the anger that runs through this album and gives us a rare slower track. For an album that has a short run time of thirty five minutes, the Colchester duo fit in so much without it feeling out of place. This track in particular has a great feeling that we haven’t felt since RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. It fills you with rage at the world and gives you the passion to go out and do something about these issues, THE MEFFS are using their platform perfectly. Love To Lose ramps up the pace to usual speed once again with its pit inducing music and ear worm of a chorus which has you shouting “LOVE TO LOSE, IT MAKES YOU FEEL ALIVE” as you listen to it. So Modern (Keep Up) continues the frenetic energy of its predecessor as it once again tells us to reject conformity and be yourself whilst taking aim at those who feel like they have to follow whatever is popular at the time, when in reality, it’s truly better to just be who you want. Extra points on this for some excellent screams from Lily on this one.
As we approach the back end of the album, we are treated to God Complex, a track featuring Ingo Donot from the excellent German band; DONOTS. His vocals are almost ghostly as he asks “who are you?” as it truly asks the listener to really ask themselves who they want to be in this world and take aim at those who see themselves as better than others. We reach the album’s triumphant ending with Gravity, one THE MEFFS’ heaviest songs they’ve ever done. This track sees them throwing everything they have at the wall one last time and everything sticks. It has a sense of desperation about it that really makes you reflect on the fact there is always going to be something that brings you back down to earth no matter how much you want that to happen. It’s grounding, intense and anger inducing, yet it is needed. Once you see what everything is truly like, it gives you that passion to fight for a truly better place. The true ending however does come with a bonus track. If you’ve ever seen THE MEFFS live, you’ll know that a cover of THE PRODIGY‘s iconic track Breathe is a great part of the show. The track itself appears right at the end which is well placed, it’s a bit of fun at the end of a hard hitting yet brilliant album relieves some tension in you. It captures the feeling of the original whilst having that classic MEFFS feel to it.
If you haven’t already gathered from what you’ve read before this, Business is fucking awesome. It only seems right that the rise of THE MEFFS has happened so quickly. They’re a band that are genuine and will have your back no matter what. The album gives us a fire that most modern music doesn’t have anymore. It’s sure to send THE MEFFS to bigger and better places and for a DIY punk duo from Colchester, you can’t help but be made up for them. UP THE MEFFS!
Rating: 10/10
Business is out now via FLG.
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