Having worked together numerous times over the years, London-based Adam Pickering and Matthew Goodbody formed The Mad Mile in 2024 to explore new sonic pastures. The band name references the colloquial moniker for the road that ran between their neighbourhoods as children.
‘Legroom’ is The Mad Mile’s first full album, and the band says it represents a more playful and up-tempo direction than what’s gone before. Well, if this brooding darkwave cauldron is ‘playful and up-tempo’, then I need to tear up my dictionary!
‘Wendy Houses’ – Kicking off with a pulsating staccato guitar, the atmosphere is heightened by a new-romantic flavoured vocal – the lower tone with just a hint of raspiness sounds great. I loved the crazy bridge with its wonky, possessed guitar solo. I enjoyed the menacing drama – similar to the theme from 28 Weeks Later. Poking fun at the childishness of adult relationships, it shows a wonderful turn of phrase.
“Upstairs with the cannibals
And microscopic animals
While they’re smoking cigarettes
Down there in the kitchen”
‘Smiths’ – Bright and brisk, the guitar sparkles and fizzes like a chilled glass of champagne. There’s an irresistible vocal melody here, and the FX in the track really bring it to life. I got strong hints of The Stone Roses with that relaxed, funky groove and soulful shoegaze sound.
‘The Plates, The Candles, The Wine’ – What a beautifully nostalgic sound! I was transported straight back to the ’80s/’90s. There’s a lot of space in the mix, which means everything has a chance to shine. The huge guitar sound draws attention to that simple hook, creating a really expansive, evocative atmosphere. It gets quite meditative as things cycle around themes of stagnation and decay.
NB read the previous Start-Track review of this song: Read here!
‘Einstein’s Birdbath’ – Great title! A growling bass, an explosive snare, and a crystalline guitar sound slow things down into a mournful march for most of the track. I thought it rocked, and the gothic theatrics worked really well.
‘Winter Blooms’ – Smooth harmonies smother the track in honey, and once again the twists took me by surprise – aggressively funky, chugging aberrations that appear with explosive crescendos like early Nirvana. I had to get my dictionary out for some of these lyrics – for the record, I think this might be about the slow deterioration of aging. Maybe:
“Irony of senescence
Development fading
Progress is talking to my winter blooms”
‘Oblong’ – I thought for a moment a truck was reversing in the street outside, but no – it was just another creative synth use! The complex rhythm and labyrinthine melody mean this one will take a few listens to fully grasp its detours. The distant piano, like something from a cursed fairground, floats in and out like an apparition.
‘Be My Elevator’ & ‘Second Tier’ – I put these tracks together because to me, they are partners in crime. Like Alice In Chains meeting Faith No More – at first – then, the vocal (which seems to scroll through personalities at will) – adds a theatrical, prog-rock depth. Both tracks are an amazing kaleidoscope of styles and a wonderful compliment to previous tracks.
‘Usable Advice’ – This sardonic take on the value of counselling is my favourite track so far. The melody darts up and down like a flame in the breeze. There’s another blockbuster bridge, and the mix of pounding heaviness with crisp falsetto vocals creates such a fresh sound that I had to replay this as soon as it finished.
‘Confidence Plus One’ – Bubbling away like a witch’s cauldron, the song cryptically explores themes of social anxiety. There’s some gnarly distortion, and some glass-like synth sounds too. It’s loose and meandering, and the chant-like vocals add a medieval ritualism to proceedings. It does tighten up when the beat fully kicks in, though, and feels very much like something from the heavier side of ’80s alt-rock.
‘The Narrow Arch’ – Awash with melodic invention and characterful vocal ideas, this is about the ‘enshittification’ of services (where a platform starts good for users, then slowly becomes worse as the company extracts more value for profit). It’s tight as hell, satisfyingly groovy, and carries more weight than a black hole.
“We can design a better way but then
We’re in decline before we can depend
So undermined but still we all pretend
We try and climb the narrow Arch again”
I loved the depth across this album – layer upon layer, expertly placed for maximum power and effect. Each track is like a jack-in-the-box – just when you think you know where it’s going, there is a musical jump scare to jolt you out of your seat. These songs feel like chapters from a book – developing the story from one moment to the next.
‘Legroom’ is crammed full of chugging riffs and elegant motifs, with more light and shade than a Renaissance painting – but just as the shadows start to get too dark, a shard of light pierces the darkness and bathes everything in a radiant glow.
Written by Grubby
