Album Review: Professor And The Madman – Disintegrate Me

Southern California’s Professor And The Madman are ready for the curtain to rise on the group’s world debut. Inspired by Universal horror movies, the literature of Edgar Allan Poe, and the chaos of the world around them, the four veteran musicians who comprise Professor And The Madman are co-frontmen and songwriters Alfie Agnew (Adolescents, DI) and Sean Elliott (DI, Mind Over Four), who are joined by the legendary rhythm section of drummer Rat Scabies (The Damned, The Mutants) and bassist Paul Gray (The Damned, Eddie And The Hot Rods). The group’s new album, Disintegrate Me will be released on vinyl, CD and digital formats by FullerTone Records on February 23, 2018.

Paul Gray‘s unmistakable bass style marks the introduction to Nightmare, a track that contains all the vintage punk fury you could ask for, but from this point the album heads off into a distinctly different direction. Tracks such as Space Walrus, Demented Love Song, Electroconvulsive Therapy and The Mirror are more akin to The Beatles at the height of their psychedelic high than the band’s the followed a decade later. The psychedelic and post punk influence are complimented with the sprightly sixties influenced pop of Wishes, Useless and Faces, but it’s not all a trip back to the sixties, as Machines reminds you exactly where the band’s origins lie.

If you were expecting something that reflects the quartet’s punk pedigree you might be in for a shock, as much of the album is more akin to the likes of The Beatles, The Who and XTC with it’s light touches of pyschedelia, in fact the only recognisable element is from some of The Damned‘s more experimental moments, but don’t take this as a criticism as it isn’t one, this just isn’t the album you might be expecting. If you’re a fan of The Damned‘s more psychedelic offerings, Rat Scabies recent work with The Mutants or you just like your punk rock to be unpredictable, then this is an album worth investigating, I doubt all of it will be anyone’s tastes but I can guarantee you won’t leave empty handed.

Professor And The Madman‘s website can be found here