REVIEW: MOON ATTENDANT – ONE LAST SUMMER (2020)

Published:

Moon Attendant are a psych collective from Brighton whose core are Paul Blewett (vocals, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, moog, eavestaff piano, stylophone and tansanite organ), Danny Molyneux (electric guitar and backing vocals), Nick Holton (lead guitar, synths, tansanite piano and Casio pt80) and Ian McCutcheon (drums). On their debut album “One Last Summer” they have added Neal Halstead (electric guitar) and Kevin Wells (bass and electric guitar).

`Blue` launches the album with a wonderful synth introduction as the delicate vocals recall a tale of falling in love with someone with deep blue eyes with some marvellous harmonious swirling organ throughout this quite dreamlike piece. There`s more of a psychedelic sixties flavour to `Hot Power.` we have synth nob twiddles and gently shared vocals with lyrics that were a bit obscure. The track becomes quite hypnotic at over seven minutes long with the last four minutes or so drifting off in a sort of Hawkwind like reverie with organ, guitar, and a driving drumbeat. Wonderful stuff.

`RHS` seems to relate to sleeping on the right-hand side and is a strange steady paced, simple but irresistibly trippy and had me in mind of Syd Barrett for some reason. A stripped back acoustic guitar and vocals open `Catch A Train` prior to synth and drums filling it out. A sort of confessional offering with somebody spilling out their thoughts while rattling a tambourine.

There`s another obscure piece with `Hammers` with off kilter piano tinkling’s, an enjoyable bass line and jangling guitars guiding us on this stop start journey. Leading on we enjoy a two-and-a-half-minute instrumental ambient trip with `Castles Burning`

I loved the title `Sleepy Sleep` and it`s a soothing swirling atmospheric groove that had me nodding along to the somewhat, for me, incomprehensible lyrics. I almost expected a cover of Patti Smith`s Dancing Barefoot with the intro to `Lucky Escape`. There`s a constant drumbeat, eddying synth, guitar licks and earworm harmonies that felt like a combination of Strawberry Alarm Clock meeting Ray Manzarek.

`I Would Like To Teach You` has a real clash of sounds for the first minute before blossoming into a trippy dreamy out there spellbinding outing. Again there`s a more nostalgic feel to the closing number `Don’t Step Back` A compelling track that had a real powerful edge about it.

I really enjoyed this album and my introduction to Moon Attendant. There was a simplicity about them at times with some dreamy but refined and stylish numbers. The songs were really infectious although they covered subjects from drugs to death, despair, pain, politics, humanity, justice, and love. It`s the sort of record you will come back to time and time again and have you mumbling snippets of and thinking where the hell have, I heard that.

Rating 9 / 10

Previous article
Next article

More From Author

spot_img

Popular Posts

Latest Gig Reviews

Latest Music Reviews

spot_img

Band Of The Day