Moaning. I know the concept very well. I have crafted it to a fine point, that it can transcend and become an entirely new life force from its mere rumbling of my ‘thoughts’. Moaning the band, have unleashed their full debut ‘Uneasy Laughter’ and second release on fabled label, Sub Pop.
Just like the album title, my moaning is uneasy listening. I can pretty much put a dampener on anything fun, innocent and wholesome.
Sorry, the album. Well, when a band has a bit of hype surrounding them. A market placeholder for the possibility the band erupts, they can stake their claim ‘they’ discovered them before you! First listen is “bloody hell. We get it, you like Joy Division”. But it does have a rhythmic charm to the whole album. It’s not ground-breaking by any means, but the band themselves astute to not needing to have to break ground. Which is always a notable touch in music creation. You’ll always come across the idea or promotion that band ‘X’ is new, different, fantastic and gonna be the next big thing yes, etc, of course, so on and unfortunately so on.
But with Moaning, it’s very much an indication of just being a band to create their emotions through music. WHY BANDS SHOULD EXIST 101. It’s to an extent, hipster-standard-synth-indie-obvs-21st century. But it’s also very well-made, that found suitable charm in it’s release of just over 40 minutes. It doesn’t overrun.
This will be a release that’s touted as ‘Amazing’ and most likely ‘the next big thing, mate’. It really is just an easy listen. No song really stuck out to me. Maybe ‘What Separates Us’ perhaps. But with most (sort of) debut releases, they come with hype and praise, but I struggle to find the stand outs and the drive to make it worth spray painting their band name across a building in any excitement. That’s not just because the tone or delivery of the album. It’s because it’s just another ‘Indie’ debut that sounds fine, but nothing you didn’t know before. But I’m not complaining.
Moaning: Uneasy Listening – Out Now (Sub Pop)
