Hailing from all over the UK, but now residing in Leicester, Codex Leicester are one the local acts seldom seen around the city’s circuit. But one that should most definitely not be ignored. A Mad Man’s Lullaby is the latest offering from the quartet and displays their powerful insanity in a fantastic manner. Pumping, pounding and delicate in places – it’s a thrilling 15 minutes of alt-rock. From the thundering opener of “Concrete Stetson” to the groove-laden closer of Van Sant, A Mad Man’s Lullaby is a powerful record all the way through.
There’s more than enough musical variety in this short time scale to keep you hooked. Tracks like ‘Oh Wichita’ hark towards a more artsy style of writing, making use of synthy whines and string samples, which break up the consistently heavy rhythms found on all the tracks featured. Lyrically, A Mad Man’s Lullaby is confusing and esoteric. Throughout every track, the melodies twine and dance through your mind in a groovy manner, but the words are so baffling they leave very little for you to hold onto, which unfortunately makes the record a little difficult to listen to more than a few times. While the arrangement and vocal FX of ‘Concrete Stetson‘ are interesting and certainly very different from anything else currently knocking around the average listeners’ iTunes collection – they bemuse more than they hook the listener in.
Overall, A Mad Man’s Lullaby is an exciting and interesting record. With some excellent moments of musical madness and genius throughout, this is certainly a record that wasn’t intended for the masses, but for those who want to seek out something a bit more complex than the norm. Codex Leicester are certainly a band to keep an eye on for the future.
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