If ‘Free To a Good Home’ showed Francie Moon’s craft at its rawest – seven demo recordings of unreleased tunes – the ‘Glass House EP’ provides the perfect counterpart with four more polished recordings showing off the subtler side to her work. On this, Moon’s third release of 2014, the idea of subtle is relative; even in a setting that sounds far less “live” than before, she insists on drenching almost everything with a cloud of distortion. This, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
FRANCIE MOON – Free To A Good Home
Following a self-released digital EP in 2013 and split cassette with Darkwing in the first half of 2014, ‘Free To a Good Home’ brings more previously unreleased music from New Jersey’s Francie Moon (aka Melissa Lucciola). Released to tie in with a summer tour – and acting as a stopgap before the appearance of ‘Glass House’, a studio recorded four track 7” – its seven recordings are very DIY in origin, but there are still times where they provide an excellent example of the performer’s talents.
SUNRISE HIGHWAY – Windows
Sunrise Highway’s self-titled album (independently released in 2010) struck a chord with a few power pop fans. Although not a patch on the sole album from the sadly missed Oranjuly, it had a homespun appeal and some of the tunes (‘Life on Mars’, especially) showed great promise. Four years on, their ‘Windows’ full length was picked up for wider distribution by Kool Kat Musik (home of DIY singer-songwriter Stephen Lawrenson, Cleaners From Venus etc). For those expecting more of the lighter tones of that earlier record – particularly the jauntier Brian Wilson/Jellyfish inspired piano tunes – ‘Windows’ may come as a disappointment.
RED MEANS RUN – All Things Said & Done EP
A four piece alt-country band from Philadephia, Red Means Run take their name from the Neil Young classic ‘Powderfinger’ and on their debut EP, guitarist Jim McKay adds a couple of solos that have the same carefree/off-key approach of the great man himself. If you love Neil and his naturalistic style of playing, of course, this is no bad thing…and it certainly suits this ragged quartet’s take on country rock. Also inspired by Young and the earlier forebears of alt-country these chaps don’t really worry about layers or overdubs – the four songs on this release have a very direct feel, almost as if the band were playing in a bar somewhere.
OGRE – Bastards Of Death
One of Ireland’s original death metal bands, Ogre released three albums in the early nineties before disappearing. After a twenty year holiday, the trio return with the joyously titled ‘Bastards of Death’. On the surface, Ogre sound like any number of extreme metal bands that you care to mention since most of their material throttles along at breakneck speed while the chosen vocalist sounds like he’s channelling the voices of thousand demons while suffering from a throat defect. If that description sounds either disrespectful or plain silly, then fear not: Ogre take the confines of the death metal genre and have fun with their sound from time to time – and since the band aren’t always taking things entirely seriously, there’s little reason why their audience should either.