I'd say this is a pretty strong one.

After a bit of a misunderstanding regarding length, (silly Italian editors, anyway :) ), an abbreviated version of this review will appear in the new LT (due out late December 04). I understand it will still be a two page spread in the issue, which is still pretty amazing as far as I'm concerned. Now if I could only find a way to make this my full time gig. Hmmmm...

Anyway, while I'm working on that... have a look. This is one amazing CD. And if you haven't picked up a copy of the latest LT they have 'em at Border's and Virgin records as well as other indie music outlets OR you can buy it direct from the [url=www.losingtoday.com]LT site. [/url]

Oh, and happy turkey day, folks!

Monster Movie

To The Moon

Clairecords



To The Moon, the sophomore effort from UK duo Monster Movie, opens with “Sweet Lemonade,” a delightfully unpretentious guitar-rock track that is as sweet as its name suggests. With its infectious, unapologetic hook and unassuming vocals, “Sweet Lemonade” is a track that dares the listener not to kick off his shoes and bask in its musical sunshine. Indeed, in the final moments of the song, although barely discernable, the track’s percussion is punctuated by the sound of hands clapping along with each measured beat; what’s more, it’s virtually impossible not to join them. While other tracks may not repeat the singularly pop style of To The Moon’s first offering, “Sweet Lemonade” serves also to introduce the listener to an album that’s greatest strength lies in its ability to be what it is without ever feeling as though it is trying to be anything. As though taking its queue from the last line of its predecessor, “You’ve gotta slow down sometimes, sweet lemonade,” To The Moon’s second offering, “Dream About You,” begins with leisurely synthesizers and an imperfect falsetto both of which lull the listener into a false sense of assumption, eventually dropping us headlong into a textured soundscape that features reverb laden riffs, synth driven hooks and a relentless, tinny, New Order-esque percussion that defines the guitar heavy portions of this album. Like “Sweet Lemonade,” this second track unrepentantly lassos the listener with its hypnotic hooks and melodic foundations. However, “Dream About You” wanders into a world that trades guitars for synthesizers and transparent sweetness for layered liquid lusciousness.

“Beautiful Arctic Star,” the album’s third track, is a gorgeous and expansive song that combines piano and synthesizer to create a sound that is at once simple and vast. By combining chiming synthesizers, (that call to mind a music box melody), repetitive piano and fuzzy drum machine percussion with a sonorous and resonant electronic backdrop, this track manages to wrap the listener in a blanket of sound without sacrificing the perfection of any of its individual details. In a similar way, the vocals on “Beautiful Arctic Star” are perhaps the strongest on To The Moon and exhibit a fully appropriate clarity that is undeniably suitable to the thematic elements of this song. Following “Beautiful Arctic Star,” “From A Distance” is a delicate instrumental that joins strummed guitars and rich synthesizers to create a fluid wall of sound which displays such movement that some listeners are bound to be reminded of early Love Spirals Downwards in its liquidity and beauty. Ironically, or perhaps by design, this track begins with an acoustic slant, quiet chimes and gently strummed guitars that subtly bend into a rich synthesized ocean - providing the perfect segue into the one track on To The Moon that most lends itself to the inevitable comparisons that Monster Movie is bound to draw.

Much has been written about the fact that one of Monster Movie’s two members, Christian Savill, was once a member of the madly popular dreampop bastion Slowdive, and while it’s possible to find elements of both member’s former projects in To The Moon, the album’s 5th track “Don’t Know Why” is perhaps most reminiscent of Savill’s days as a dreampop legend, but even that’s a bit iffy. With it’s gentle waves of synthesizers woven delicately throughout a rhythmically undulating acoustic guitar combined with soft and drifting vocals that, on this track more than any other, appear driven towards being just another part of the instrumentation, it’s easy to draw comparisons to the bygone Souvlaki era. However, such comparisons are not only a bit dicey, but also largely inaccurate. Clearly, rather than walking old roads, Monster Movie is focused on blazing new trails, which it does with nearly complete success on all of To The Moon’s 11 tracks. In fact, any delusions the listener may have had about Monster Movie being a Slowdive throwback are dashed on the album’s 6th track “Colder Days” which, as the title suggests, is an autumnal marriage of acoustic guitar and dual vocals wrapped up in one sweet melodic package. Elements such as the familiar chimed synthesizers that we’ve heard on earlier tracks and a brief hint of harmonica in the song’s final seconds make “Colder Days” a charming and warm arrangement that helps to differentiate Monster Movie from either band member’s prior musical incarnations.

Unfortunately, this attempt to rid themselves completely of the ghosts of Slowdive and any other lingering specters that may still haunt them from their days at Sarah Records seems to have run amok on the album’s 7th track “Good Grief.” This noisy, disjointed instrumental not only appears completely out of place on To The Moon, but it also does very little to illuminate the band’s strengths. If anything can be said about this track it is that it fully lives up to its name, leaving the listener, with raised eyebrow, reaching for the ‘skip’ button. Although not nearly as tragic, the album’s 8th offering “Memento” is also a similarly regretful and piercing foray into the world of brit-pop that stretches both member’s vocals nearly as much as it does the listener’s patience. Fortunately, just when it appears that To The Moon has taken a turn for the worse, the album’s 9th track “Out of Touch” reminds us why Monster Movie is a musical force to be reckoned with. This sweeping and dissonant track is not only the album’s longest, but it is also one of its best offerings. Setting aside the musical prowess displayed on “Out of Touch,” one of the most remarkable aspects of this song seems to be its metaphoric role as a musical portrait of its duo creators. The juxtaposition of both acoustic and electronic elements is not only beautifully realized but also adeptly illustrative on this track, giving the listener a sense that somewhere within these layers of beauty there’s a lesson to be learned from the marriage of two distinct styles. This duality is also fully demonstrated in the song’s vocals, which echo each other in a discrete and haunting refrain. Truly, this is a brilliant track that, alone, would make To The Moon well worth the purchase price.

Rounding out To The Moon, “Nobody Sees” is a lovely lullaby of a song that gently swoons. Relying on piano and deliberate, pinning synthesizers to punctuate the brittle vocals, this track seems the most emotional of the album’s offerings and achieves a certain fragility despite its depth of sound. “Nobody Sees” also appeared as the final Monster Movie track on their recent split EP with shoegaze rockers Dreamland. However, on To The Moon, Monster Movie chooses to wrap up their second album with the lively and fuzzy pop-rock gem “1950da” which, after the purposeful leisure of “Nobody Sees,” is a musical shot in the arm, not to mention a decidedly appropriate ending to an album that manages to feel completely natural while never once becoming predictable.

All in all, To The Moon is a wonderfully composed album that is well suited to a variety of musical experiences. While some tracks, such as “Dream About You” and “Beautiful Arctic Star” are perfect for the kind of intimate listening that can only come from strapping on the headphones and closing your eyes, and mind, off to everything but the music, still others, such as “Sweet Lemonade” and “Colder Days” lend themselves to being turned up loud in the car on a crisp autumn evening ~ letting the music mingle with the falling leaves. The real success of this album, however, lies in Monster Movies’ ability to create a collection of songs that allows for both types of experience without ever feeling foreign or out of place. Despite a couple of questionable tracks, To The Moon is not only a triumph, but one of the best albums of the year.