Review by Paul D Houston
Rock Music doesn't always have to be moving towards or with the latest trends to be considered good or novel. I see a lot of what is considered rock music today, moving more and more towards electronica or hip-hop or something similar, and I generally understand it, as its always refreshing to hear something new and weird and fresh, but sometimes I want to hear some straight up guitar driven rock music that will blow me away. It doesn't happen all that often anymore, but every now and again an EP or album will come along, thats strictly and unapologetically guitar driven rock music, and it will catch my ear. "Music for People to Listen To" by Mall Dive, an Anaheim, California based band, caught my ear in a big way.
Up front, I will admit, this ep does have a lot of standard or classic 90's alt-rock/grunge sensibilities to it, which can be a turn off for some people, in some cases, but theres so much ingenuity in these seven songs, I personally didn't mind too much. First off the mix on this ep is absolutely excellent. Every element of each song, from guitars to vocals is perfectly in balance with the rest of the tracks. A good mix is noticeable and is so important, so to hear this excellent mix by this new band, it impresses me.
The overall instrumentation is well done also, and while I wouldn't say anyone in the band is excellent at their craft, they dont need to be for this. The crunchy guitars, the melodic vocals and the bare bones percussion all comes together excellently. The melodies are bountiful and the hooks are in plenty. This is just an overall enjoyable ep.
I was particularly impressed by the songs Slump and Euph, but perhaps "Navigate" is the best song on this ep.
But please judge for yourself. If you like good solid alt-rock music, I highly recommend this effort.
Find this here: https://malldive.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-people-to-listen-to