When it comes to music, Coventry is a city that’s still primarily known as the birthplace of 2-Tone. It must be a big shadow for any band to step out from, yet young upstarts Mvnich seem intent on carving the city a new history, this time based around a more harder, rock sound. Their EP, Septua, finds this three-piece on the front foot to deliver six caustic, but catchy, tracks that should bring the band to national attention.
With a spiky and angular guitar line cast to the wind, opening track ‘Borderline’ immediately reels the listener in with its insanely captivating melody. There’s an urgency to this cut that suggests Mvnich are a band on a mission. There’s very little fluff or padding here; everything is honed into a white hot beam of light, and that gives a feeling of perpetual motion. This comes partly from operating as a three-piece band; like most trios they sound far bigger than their constituent parts, yet it is a configuration that ensures this combo lock in tightly to deliver a sound that really punches.
From blues to punk, Mvnich pull from a wide range of influences yet they’re pulled together into a cohesive whole to create a sound that’s not easy to categorise, but if I was pressed I’d place them into the post-punk camp. Think The Enemy meets Arctic Monkeys (on a dark night) and you’d have something approaching Mvnich. Songs such as ‘Nothing More’ hit hard, and that’s thanks in no small part to drummer Connor Davis, who is both metronomic and versatile. The trio also has the benefit of bringing Tom Godwin’s bass to the fore and this adds extra bite to the band. Guitarist and vocalist Daniel Davis has a unique throaty gargle best described as the bemused defiance of someone trying to make sense of life’s absurdities.
Recorded during a four-day session at Birmingham’s Glass Onion Studios, Mvnich apparently have more songs in the tank, but the six comprising Septua make the perfect calling card. None of tracks inhabit the same sonic space, thus we get the haunting and spacious ‘The Creek’, the fuzzed-up, straight-from-the-garage aesthetic of ‘There You Have It’ alongside thoughtful closer ‘Encased In Gold’. They comprise a sextet of songs that are stitched together by their very eclecticism. The sound delivered is both lyrically and musically astute, ensuring Mvnich arrive fully formed with Septua.
Welcome to the future.
- Septua is self-released on 7th March 2024.
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Track List:
- Borderline
- Teenage Fantasy
- Nothing More
- The Creek
- These Arms
- There You Have It
- Encased In Gold
