All Over The Place 2: Reviews Of Recent Releases By Local Bands, Pt. 129

Moonlove - May Never Happen - Concentric Circles - 10 songs - LP, digital

I really like when totally obscure bands get reissued. This album originally came out on cassette only in 1985 in an edition of “probably fewer than 25 copies” on the classic Kent label Discographies For The Deaf (numbered DFTD 4— I have only seen evidence of two other DFTD releases but consider my interest piqued). Who were Moonlove? Well, there’s Jeff Curtis (whose recent music has been reviewed here at least once and has been in many great bands, from Bad Crabs to Satan’s Satellites and beyond), Randy Russell (who was also in The Channel Masters with Jeff), and Beth Erickson, aka Edda Blaine, whose trail ends as far as I can tell with her appearance on the Gibson Bros.’ “Dedicated Fool” LP in 1989. This record really fits right in with a lot of indie and underground music of its era— Beat Happening and The Clean both came to mind while listening. Not quite Paisley Underground, but they definitely really like the Velvets (and Beth Erickson certainly sounds at times like Moe Tucker). It’s lo-fi, it’s a bit scrappy, sometimes the guitars sound out of tune and the drums miss a few beats— but that all just adds to its charm. A lot of these songs are very catchy— “Blue Skies” gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. Something about “Moroccan Moon” reminds me of Daniel Johnston without really sounding at all like Daniel Johnston. “Trying To Find” has a cool double-melody vocal from Beth. Accuse me of being a Jeff Curtis superfan if you want, but “Cast Your Troubles And Dreams Away” and “Triangle” (his two solo writing credits) might be my favorite tracks here. A solid record with a nice presentation— Concentric Circles put some care into this, which is always appreciated with reissues, especially ones of something so unknown. The booklet has lots of cool pictures of the band and scans of flyers and stuff— not only do these three look like the perfect mid-‘80s indie band, but they have quite a command of their aesthetic as well (which can be seen just by looking at the cover here as well). Hey, while we’re on the Discographies For The Deaf stuff, I would personally really love it if somebody would reissue the J’accuse tape— please? 4/5

(moonlove.bandcamp.com)

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Volume 18, Issue 23, Posted 5:06 PM, 12.07.2022