Mother Knows Best by Mother Vulture: Album Review

by Gabe Finch January 6, 2023

January 6, 2023

Mother Knows Best by Mother Vulture: Album Review

Mother Vulture, a Bristol-based rock band, has just released their debut album, ‘Mother Knows Best’, after touring the UK multiple times and performing at numerous festivals. The album has a total of 12 tracks that share a common vision and style yet differ in some areas, making it quite eclectic. Consider the filthiest blues-fringed punked-up alloy and you’ll be on the correct track. A few more miles down the motorway, you’ll find yourself in the chaotic, clamorous domains that this four-piece inhabits. Mother Vulture prepares to be released by bouncing off the walls with a banging sonic blast.

They deliver it all at once on ‘Fame Or Shame’: a forceful, two-note riff, a seductive chorus, a pulse-raising tempo, and a shrieking finale that demonstrates they can go roughly two minutes before becoming insane. Elsewhere, there’s a significant surge of intensity on the wonderfully named ‘Monster Crunch’ and ‘Big Bad,’ while ‘Shifting Sands’ neatly displays how tight they can establish a beat. Even when they slow it down, like on the pounding ‘Honey’ and ‘Rabbit Hole,’ they’re mesmerizing. It’s loud, thumping joy from a band that’s already established itself as one of the UK’s most interesting new sounds.

Overall, this is an album that doesn’t exactly follow a formula, but rather a collection of characteristics that connect the tunes and give the band the much-needed characterization that the record would’ve been uninteresting without. This album is a great example of how to write a record with a wide range of inspirations and genres and make each one seem unique.