MXRCXL – All About Tomorrow

MXRCXL – All About Tomorrow
Self released – 2020
Rock, Grunge, Stoner, Alternative
Rated: ****

The man behind this, now four-piece, project is still the honorable Marcel Janssen, but MXRCXL sounds like so much more now, like a tight and centuries old outfit. Perhaps thanks to the mix of  Seattle-professor Matt Bayles (Soundgarden, Deftones) or because all his old ideas were thrown away when Marcel suffered a tragedy in the family and he decided to start over. This time with all the members present in the studio, the songs quickly moved into the territory  of darkness, depression, despair and do most of it all wonderfully aggressive. There are moments of subdued beauty, moments of light and air, little pixie piano moments that seem to float away with the aggressiveness towards a sky filled with hope and love. It’s grunge, but a noisy, newer form of grunge. Grunge avant la lettre. It's All About Tomorrow, as the new album is called, shows us a band that has completely grown into their own. They still retain a tiny industrial edge which definitely sets it apart form other grunge albums. The same can be said for their use of breaks and rhythm changes, which gives it this rich feeling and even some old metal atmospheres. Yes, it’s MXRCXL, it’s All About Tomorrow and it’s so much more!

(Written by JK)

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Mxrcxl - I Love Words More Than You Can Say

Mxrcxl - I Love Words More Than You Can Say

Self released – 2020

Rock

Rated: ****

Released on the very first day of the new year,  is the new single I Love Words More Than You Can Say by Dutch outfit Mxrcxl. Mixed by Matt Bayles in Red Room Studio, Seattle (Mastodon, Soundgarden & Deftones) and mastered by Fluid Mastering, Londen (Faith No More, Therapy? & Sex Pistols) the production is ofcourse done by Marcel Janssen himself, the man behind the project. Heralding the upcoming new album All About Tomorrow and heralding a new sound! Different then what came before, remember A Laughing Matter or In Alarm?  Very fluid, very catchy and very promising! Go check out the single and get ready for the full album!

(Written by JK)

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Mxrcxl – In Alarm

Mxrcxl – In Alarm

Self released – 2015

Metal, Rock, Alt, Grunge, Punk

Rated: ****

On the A Laughing Matter EP back in 2013 the four guys from Mxrcxl produced a grungy, metallic, punk sound most at home in dusty industrial halls and lusciously overgrown harbor facilities. Now, two years and a whole lot of shows later they return with a full-sized album titled: In Alarm. A continuation of their earlier sound on many a level, but so much better on every level! What growth! They combine every bit of alternative metal and alternative rock to such an amazing degree it’s insane. Among the definite influences one could name, we hear Therapy?, Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction and Melvins. But that doesn’t do any justice to the band itself, cause it’s so much more than an adding up of influences. They’ve turned into masters of seemingly controlled chaos, they turn their punky aggression into something that always immediately seems to capture your imagination and catches you off guard with its catchiness. Cause for some reason you reckon that this musical violence should not be this addictive. But it is. Alarmingly so. Just listen to those basslines pounce and weave and groove and wreck as the drums follow or leave the exact amount of room for the synths to excel! And then there’s the alarmingly angst ridden voice of lead mogul Marcel Janssen himself and his rumbling guitar sound. Both so excellently pronounced and striking. And with Okko Kokke from Mannheim on alt sax on the final track Happy Shooting, we have a righteous send off into the dark and twisted night. Why only four stars after so much praise and love you ask? I simply cannot get my head around the Roy Orbison cover You Got It. It raises so many questions and puts every fiber in your being on alert… Wait? Is that perhaps the goal? (You Got It!) But even then, it sort of falls out of bounce with the tight emotional rollercoaster that is Mxrcxl! Buy the ticket… Take the ride…

(Written by JK)

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Mxrcxl - Shit for Brains

MXRCXL - Shit For Brains

New Mxrcxl video "Shit for Brains" of the forthcoming debut album "In Alarm"

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MXRCXL – A Laughing Matter

MXRCXL – A Laughing Matter

Self released – 2013

Rock, Punk, Garage, Metal, Grunge, Industrial

Rated: ***

Four tracks that smell like an industrial warehouse in the Seattle region but actually comes from downtown Rotterdamn, Netherlands. MXRCXL was a one-man operation during his first release Dump back in 2011 but quickly decided to search for three other members. The band is complete now and the four guys produce a grungy, metallic, punk sound most at home in dusty halls and overgrown harbor facilities. The new EP A Laughing Matter is in no way a laughing matter and feels like an angry and anxious call to arms. Where his two track debut featured more dry heat stoner influences this one aims without any hesitation for the intelligent punk side of grunge and incorporates the technological sound that Nine Inch Nails offers without it sounding like anything in that genre.  L7, Mudhoney, Seven Year Bitch; and more of that era have leant definite waves of recognizability. MXRCXL is on his way to become a force to be reckoned with!

(Written by JK)

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