Those people who have been fans of The Midnight Beast for years, like me, would have thought this album has been a long time coming. The number of parody songs they now have under their belt is definitely enough to fill an album, if not two! But to be fair, the trio’s circumstances would obviously have affected this delayed album release. After gaining significantly more fans due to their E4 success I can see this album selling a lot of copies. Yet again, it’s another album, not necessarily aimed at, but appeals to the Tween generation. To those pre-pubescent little girls who reply to Stefan Abingdon’s tweets with irrelevant ramblings like “OMFG FOLLOW ME STEFAN, I LUV U SO MUCH!!!! <3”, it’s people like you that make the band successful in terms of sales yet piss all over their “credibility” as a band.
However with The Midnight Beast this isn’t so much of a problem, the comedy aspect of their songs means they’re not necessarily taking themselves that seriously and can afford to have some screaming girls tarring their rep, even if they don’t quite understand what a ‘strategy wank’ is (I would hate to be the parent answering that awkward question). Aside from context the album is actually pretty decent. They aren’t really bringing any new material to the table, so for those who are already fans it’s a nice greatest hits-esque compilation but for new fans of The Midnight Beast, you’ll be taken on a journey of gimmick rap that you’ve never experienced before. Despite the comedy aspect Stefan Abingdon is a seriously competent song writer. He knows how to please a crowd, so even though the lyrics are gimmicky, the actual songs have the ability to be chart success’ with their catchy synthy beats and perfected use of auto-tune.
‘Just Another Boyband‘ is a personal favourite of mine. An obvious comment on the manufacturing of boybands in the music industry today. Speaking of breaking younger sisters hearts, having homosexual tendencies and keeping underwear after shows, all of the dark cliched extremes that come with being in a boyband. Alluding to the likes of Westlife in the lyrics, it’s catchy, infectious, bursting at the seams with auto tune and most of all, exactly what you would expect from a successful boyband! Ironically, the song works. Another stand out song is the first track on the record, hilariously titled ‘I Kicked A Shark In The Face’. It’s another song with a pop-synth sound meaning that it’s incredibly catchy with hilarious lyrics, well, hilarious if you’re into this sort of childish humour (I guess I am). The song is pretty much as it says on the tin, about hitting animals. Don’t worry animal lovers! They have a beautifully sang section (by Ashley Horne) that goes “the only thing I know is I love animals! We put this bit in the song so 
the animal lovers don’t come for us”. ‘Quirky’ is a track for all you wannabe hipsters out there. Give it a listen and see how many people you know that the song applies to, hopefully you won’t be doing the idiotic things mentioned in the track. It’s brilliantly written and so relevant right now, it’s sure to give you a laugh as you recognise the behaviours in some of your fellow undergraduates.
Obviously there are some tracks which really don’t catch on, the likes of ‘Censorshit’ has hardly got one play out of me, similar to ‘Life is a Musical’. The latter is simply far too cringey to watch let alone listen to without the visuals of the TV show. However, pretty much all of the other tracks on the record are easy to listen to and often ‘laugh-out-loud’ funny to those who are not used to their vulgar lyrics. You’ll read many reviews comparing the trio to the likes of Flight of the Concords and The Lonely Island. I would recommend trying not to draw comparisons. The production that goes into The Lonely Island’s tracks means they are head and shoulders above any one else attempting the same genre and Flight of the Concords have an entirely different take on gimmick music. The humour is totally different. Take The Midnight Beast as they come and you might just find you have a soft spot for the infectious trio.
7/10
