Clouds of smoke obscure your view of the stage, where amps are littered with empty glass bottles. The scents of sweat and spilled beer dance in your nostrils as five long-haired reprobates clad in denim and leather walk onto the stage, a swagger in their step and street tough bravado oozing from their pores. Looking to take in a show whilst sitting on your ass? Get fucked. Total Maniac expects you to be on your feet and moving, and if you’re not ready for that, why are you even here? These boys from Baltimore play a raucous brand of classic rock-meets-speed metal that lives somewhere between Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, and Ted Nugent, delivering no-frills cheap thrills on sophomore effort Love Overdrive. So slap on your battle vest and steel-toe boots—when adrenaline starts to flow, and you’re thrashing all around, you’ve gotta be prepared to act like a Total Maniac.
Compared to Total Maniac’s self-titled debut, Love Overdrive veers more into the trad metal/rock ‘n’ roll lane than Total Maniac’s thrash ‘n’ roll stylings. While both albums showcase Total Maniac’s snotty disregard for authority and decorum, Total Maniac dedicated more attention to thrashy chugs and barked vocals. On Love Overdrive, the focus centers on sticky leads and hooky riffs over palm-muted riffing and abrasive grit. Love Overdrive also tones down what passed for technicality on their debut. Not that Total Maniac doesn’t host capable musicians, but there are moments across the album where guitars and vocals sound like they’re pushing just past their ability. Despite that, Love Overdrive features an enthusiastic embrace of freewheeling sin-dealing that’s easy to appreciate.
What Total Maniac lacks in virtuosic prowess, they make up in impish pluck. With only twenty-seven minutes on tap, Love Overdrive never feels phoned in. Each moment sounds crafted to maximize fist-pumping carnage, from the “Panama”-meets-“Wild Side” riffing in “Love Overdrive” to the Phil Campbell-inspired soloing toward the end of “Flatline.” It’s unclear which of Total Maniac’s guitarists takes the lead at any given point, but both Mike Brown and Nick Etson lay down earworm after earworm, frequently breaking away for a quick solo before snapping back to let vocalist Diamond Dustin regale you about hard living, hard loving, and hard rocking. Double-D doesn’t lack conviction, although his upper range sometimes gets away from him. It’s not a deal-breaker, as this sort of rowdy street metal lends itself to imperfect performances that enhance its DIY charm, but piercing falsettos occasionally hit like a sour King Diamond. As for the rhythm section, drummer Vaughn Volkman does a commendable job keeping Love Overdrive’s eight tracks on the rails, but it’s bassist Ben Martin who steals the show. His beefy grumbles and well-mixed countermelodies offset Total Maniac’s dual-guitar attack, creating a well-balanced stringed menace that defines my favorite aspect of Love Overdrive.
Though Total Maniac bleeds authenticity and fun, Love Overdrive does little to stake an identity that hasn’t already been claimed. Many of the riffs seem like variations on MötleyCrüe’s 80s heyday, with “Early Grave” echoing the main motif from “Kickstart My Heart” and the intro from “Set Fire to the Sun” hitting the same mid-paced groove and brief bass sustains as “Shout at the Devil.” The mid-song break in “Drinkin’ Our Way to Hell” even reminds me of Nugent’s crackpot rant towards the end of “Wango Tango.” In this way, Love Overdrive feels like a step back from Total Maniac, which was rougher around the edges, but better defined a unique voice for the band.
Total Maniac does a fantastic job of harnessing the spirit of the music I grew up listening to, but Love Overdrive rarely captures moments that achieve the promise of their inspirations. Fun abounds, and the music encourages beer-chugging shenanigans with a shit-eating grin, yet in the end Total Maniac leaves me wanting to revisit songs I already know rather than learn these new ones. Even so, it’s a quick listen worthy of a spin for anyone craving new material harkening to simpler times. I look forward to hearing where Total Maniac ventures next, and I hope they find a way to continue celebrating the glory of the past while sending their future into Overdrive.
British rockers Cats In Space have released details of their only two full-band electric shows for this year, with dates in Coventry and Newport this November.
Highly regarded for their lush, ’70s-infused hard rock sound, the chart-topping band have been ensconced in the studio putting the finishing touches to their as-yet-unnamed seventh studio album, which promises to be as ambitious and epic as ever.
Following the departure of Jeff Brown and Dean Howard after 2024’s Time Machine album, the core line up of Greg Hart, Damien Edwards, Steevi Bacon & Andy Stewart, are joined by Chris Childs (Thunder, Tyketto) and Sam Wood (Black Star Riders, Wayward Sons) ensuring that the next era of Cats In Space will be memorable for all the right reasons.
Cats In Space & Bobbie Dazzle join Jeff Lynne at BST Hyde Park 2025 for ELO final UK show. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk
These are the only two full electric shows scheduled for 2026 to launch the new album campaign. There will be a chance to buy and hear the new album before anyone else at these shows only.
Cats In Space will also be playing an Acousti-Cats show at The Half Moon, Putney, on April 26th as a celebration of their first decade as a band, where fans will get to hear special versions of songs, plenty of stories and some surprises too.
Celebrating a decade of melodic, theatrical rock, Cats In Space have firmly established themselves as one of the UK’s most vibrant modern classic rock bands,
Event Details
Celebrating a decade of melodic, theatrical rock, Cats In Space have firmly established themselves as one of the UK’s most vibrant modern classic rock bands, blending ’70s-inspired grandeur with contemporary energy.
There are only two full electric shows planned this year. Tickets and more details are available from catsinspace.co.uk/uk-tourdates.
Celebrating a decade of melodic, theatrical rock, Cats In Space have firmly established themselves as one of the UK’s most vibrant modern classic rock bands,
Event Details
Celebrating a decade of melodic, theatrical rock, Cats In Space have firmly established themselves as one of the UK’s most vibrant modern classic rock bands, blending ’70s-inspired grandeur with contemporary energy.
There are only two full electric shows planned this year. Tickets and more details are available from catsinspace.co.uk/uk-tourdates.
Speed have been announced as the next headliners for this year’s Burn It Down Festival.
The Sydney titans will join Drug Church atop the bill, with the Torquay event – which takes place across four venues in the Devon town between September 3 – 5 – confirming that Speed’s performance will be a no-barrier set. There’s still a third headliner to come, but elsewhere Burn It Down’s 2026 line-up boasts everyone from As It Is to unpeople, Grove Street, PENGSHUI, Meryl Streek, The Chisel, The Meffs, Trauma Ray and loads more. Tickets are on sale now.
Next month Speed will kick off their UK tour with Whispers and Bodyweb, stopping off in Brighton, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow and London. They were also recently announced for Reading & Leeds in August, so you’ve got plenty of chances to catch ’em throughout 2026.
Clouds of smoke obscure your view of the stage, where amps are littered with empty glass bottles. The scents of sweat and spilled beer dance in your nostrils as five long-haired reprobates clad in denim and leather walk onto the stage, a swagger in their step and street tough bravado oozing from their pores. Looking to take in a show whilst sitting on your ass? Get fucked. Total Maniac expects you to be on your feet and moving, and if you’re not ready for that, why are you even here? These boys from Baltimore play a raucous brand of classic rock-meets-speed metal that lives somewhere between Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, and Ted Nugent, delivering no-frills cheap thrills on sophomore effort Love Overdrive. So slap on your battle vest and steel-toe boots—when adrenaline starts to flow, and you’re thrashing all around, you’ve gotta be prepared to act like a Total Maniac.
