I loved Masked Intruder‘s self-titled first album. It was a fast-paced pop punk record which was basically a concept album about loving someone, stalking them, and – ultimately – getting arrested over it. Unfortunately, M.I. doesn’t match up to the quality of the first.

Maybe the novelty – and let’s be honest, a masked band singing about breaking and entering is a novelty – is wearing off? Or maybe it’s just the fact that this whole album seems far too mid-paced. It just seems to plod along without the energy of the first.

Musically, it almost sounds like a band’s ‘mature second album’, except this is ‘that masked criminal band’ and not exactly the type of band that you’d want maturity from.

Ultimately, it seems like Masked Intruder found themselves in a spot where they had two options: re-hash the first album, or try and do something slightly different but within the confines of their characters. Whilst the latter might look, on paper at least, like the sensible option, I probably would have just preferred Self-Titled Part 2 and more of the same.

Masked Intruder‘s charm came from the simplistic and catchy nature of their music, coupled with the ridiculous gimmick. Both these elements needed the other to work as effectively as possible. Remove the speed and catchiness from the music and there’s not actually much left, unfortunately.

– Ian Perry