Moletrap – Mid Welsh, Pt. 1 (2025)
Moletrap’s new EP, Mid Welsh, Pt. 1, is the sound of survivalists defining themselves for themselves. In their description of Mid Welsh, the band offer that this EP is the band “…trying to capture the untamed and often overlooked centre of Wales, and an attempt to break the stereotype of Mid Wales as being a tranquil, quiet area.” The opener, ‘Rhagofn’, is a perfect start to their mission. The song begins with a band member giving a speech in Welsh, centred around a ramping guitar and bass. The song effortlessly transitions into a flurry of harsh guitar riffs and horn bursts, creating a festive feel. These three friends are out to lay claim to their roots and their future as a people.
Stepping right in next is ‘Taffy’. An upbeat bluesy rock track that got my feet tapping immediately. The song also serves as a good transition from the cloudiness earlier. Here, they resurrect an English nursery rhyme, ‘Taffy was a Welshman’, and update it. While revisiting the story turned slur, the band also critiques Westminster’s wrongdoing in the Cwm Elan flooding, by mentioning the flood, then chanting, sarcastically, the nursery rhyme: “Taffy was a Welshman/and Taffy was a cheat.” Over this groovy, anthem-esque arrangement, they exaggerate their vocal performance, and the absurdity allows them and the listener to have fun while shifting the “dishonest” narrative.
Mid Welsh is full of musical traditions and cultural specificity, which makes the project engaging. But Moletrap’s ability to morph their music to sound like any genre makes the project feel like the songs were written apart from each other, then pieced together. The lack of cohesion doesn’t allow the songs to stick for long, but the band’s intention is self-determination. Does cohesion need to be the priority?
At the start of ‘What a Beautiful Place’, Carrington’s haunting voice beautifully bounces over Mat Ball’s bass plucks, setting the listener up for an emotional experience. Then guitars crash in, plunging the song into a gloomy alt-rock tune. A transition to minimalist instrumentation helps centre Carrington’s dire poetry, before the guitars race back in for the chorus. The song is also the second of three moments where emceeing is used, and again, rap deepens the emotions of the song’s theme of Mid-Walian pride. It appears that the inclusion of different forms seems to help the band push toward self-determination. The music on this EP can be categorised as expression by any means necessary.
The project ends with ‘Nation of Sanctuary’, a prototypical funk tune with drum programming and swaggerish raps that provide extra soul. This track switches in and out of hardcore rock. The band intend to rile the listener, with raging, rugged vocals, shouting, “I feel it!/ Do you feel it too? I feel it!/ the living proof” as the hook. With Mid Welsh, Pt. 1, Moletrap bring more attention to their plight and successfully defines themselves by crucially being imperfect and loud.
Find out more about Moletrap on their Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
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