Album review: THE MIDDLENIGHT MEN – Issue 2

Middlenight Records [Release date 05.04.24]

Although The Middlenight Men first came to life in 2019, singer and guitarist Nick Hughes has a long and rich history in music – he’s been a member of Terrorvision for the last eight years.

Having attended Bretton Hall College in 2000 to study music, he formed a bond with drummer Leon Cave (who went on to join Status Quo as their full-time drummer in 2013), and the pair went on to play in many bands together throughout the early 2000s, before going their separate ways only for Nick to rejoin Leon in the band Crane Brothers in 2007. There has rarely been a break in twenty years where these two haven’t been in a project together since.

The first Middlenight Men album ‘Issue #1’ was recorded at the end of 2019 and arrived in 2021. Now we have album number two, which was mainly produced by renowned producer Jason Perry, formally of Brit-rockers A.

Why The Middlenight Men? The Middlenight Men not only represents the thoughts that invade our dreams in the night, but it also signifies the philosophy of the band and all its collaborators. The band is greater than the sum of its parts. As their press release (and album cover artwork suggests) they are “…the Marvel Avengers of the rock and roll world.”

Opening with ‘The Middlenight Men Theme’ they set out their musical stall – catchy, riff based pop rock. The outro of heavyweight drumming, chanted vocals and a female lead vocal works a treat. One of the songs of the year ladies and gentlemen.

The sound of the Wildhearts and Ginger, especially his Hey Hello! project, can be heard throughout the album especially on ‘Bruno’.

The speakers fairly boom ‘n’ shake with ‘Fighting Styler’, whilst ‘Nightlines’ is another pop punk banger that should be all over mainstream daytime radio, but sadly won’t.

The Middlenight Men aren’t all about noisy anthems, as ‘Living in the Heart of Hell’ shows. A gentler affair featuring the guitar solo of the album. The album closes with ‘The Longest Goodbye’, a song that would give the likes of Feeder a run for their money.

Check out the band’s Bandcamp as they have a wealth of bonus songs for you to buy and download.

In these troubled times we live in an upbeat album like this is the perfect pick me up.

Pop punk is in safe hands with our new musical superheroes the Middlenight Men. Crank it up and enjoy! ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)