Marmozets
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
After years away, Marmozets have not returned quietly. They have kicked the door back open with CO.WAR.DICE., a furious, emotional and brilliantly unpredictable comeback record that reminds everyone exactly why they became one of the most exciting British alternative bands of the last decade in the first place.
For those unfamiliar with their story, Marmozets emerged from West Yorkshire in the early 2010s sounding like absolutely nobody else around them. Led by the explosive presence of Becca Bottomley alongside brothers Sam and Josh Macintyre and guitarist Jack Bottomley, the band fused post-hardcore chaos, math-rock precision, punk energy and huge melodic hooks into something thrillingly volatile. At a time when British rock risked becoming formulaic, Marmozets arrived like a controlled explosion.
Their breakthrough album, The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets, turned them into one of the UK’s most talked-about heavy bands almost overnight. They toured relentlessly, destroyed festival stages and built a reputation for live performances that felt completely untamed. But after 2018’s Knowing What You Know Now, the band largely disappeared from the spotlight, leaving many wondering if Marmozets had quietly become another cult band lost to time.
CO.WAR.DICE. answers that question emphatically. This is not simply a reunion album fuelled by nostalgia or obligation. This sounds like a band reborn. The ferocity is still here — those jagged riffs, the sudden tempo shifts, the chaos threatening to spill over the edges at any moment — but there is something deeper running through the record now. Parenthood, time away, personal growth and survival have clearly reshaped the emotional core of the band. The result is an album that feels sharper, wiser and more emotionally fearless without losing any of its bite.
Becca Bottomley remains one of the most compelling voices in British rock. She does not merely sing these songs — she throws herself into them completely. One second she sounds fragile and reflective, the next she is detonating into full-throttle catharsis. Few frontpeople can shift between vulnerability and absolute aggression with this level of conviction.
Tracks like “Cut Back” feel tailor-made to explode in sweaty festival tents this summer, balancing huge hooks with pure adrenaline-fuelled urgency. Meanwhile “Running With The Sun in Your Eyes” channels early-2000s groove-metal energy into something addictive and strangely euphoric. But what makes CO.WAR.DICE. genuinely impressive is its refusal to stay in one lane.
The dreamlike fragility of “Dandy” reveals an entirely different side to the band — sparse, delicate and haunting — while “Keep Going Darling” drifts into experimental territory with pulsing loops and hypnotic atmosphere before unfolding into a stunning cinematic finale. The band’s willingness to embrace risk is exactly what keeps the album alive from start to finish.
You can also hear the influence of the band’s expanded inspirations this time around. Elements of garage rock, art punk and even warped new-wave textures creep into the record, giving it a freshness that stops it ever feeling trapped by its own past.
Lyrically, the album carries surprising emotional weight. Beneath the noise and aggression sits a record deeply concerned with humanity, connection and trying to leave the world in a better place than you found it. Becca herself describes the album as “a promise that we make to ourselves to leave this world in a better condition.” That sense of resilience and hope pulses through the entire record.
Importantly, CO.WAR.DICE. never feels overproduced or sanitised. Produced largely by Johnathan Gilmore, known for his work with Biffy Clyro and Nothing But Thieves, the album still sounds dangerous. There is dirt under its fingernails. Every scream, riff and breakdown lands with physical force. And perhaps that is the biggest triumph here.
In an era where so much alternative rock feels algorithmically polished and emotionally hollow, Marmozets still sound gloriously human. Messy when they need to be. Beautiful when they choose to be. Completely fearless throughout. CO.WAR.DICE. is not just one of the strongest comeback albums in recent memory — it is proof that Marmozets still belong at the front of modern British alternative music. Wild, emotional, inventive and alive. Exactly what rock music should sound like in 2026.
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