I have always loved to say that I liked Alternative Rock back when it was. Somehow, in the 2000s, the American music scene began making the music I loved boring and colorless and popular. Grunge became the be-all, and joy left the party.
So, it is always with some caution that I approach albums like Moonback Stage‘s Echo Process (L’Autre Distribution). It is always with pleasure that I’m rewarded for the effort.
Hailing from Tours, France,* these guys deliver more fun in seven songs than any three Grunge albums you can name. They’ve got the requisite distortion and flat vocals, but the upbeat tunes elevate the album beyond yet another.
Having used “upbeat” a couple of times already, I feel I must clarify. The beat and general vibe reach for something closer to Fountains of Wayne or early U2. Upbeat as opposed to morose and depressive. “Timber” opens with all the fuzz, but the lyrics, after weeks of reviewing a lot of Power Metal and bombast, revealed a more personal and introspective attitude Moonback Stage carries throughout.
Next, “Fuzz l’Eclair” throws way back to a time when “Alternative” belonged solely to the domain of college radio and stood in opposition to the glossily packaged Top 40 of the Eighties New Wave era. The vocals are produced with a particularly hollow sound that resonates deeply with old Xers like me. And at nearly eight minutes, it goes on quite the sonic journey.
“Echo Process,” the title track, starts with excellent bass riffs that could go anywhere. Then the guitars kick in for a wall of sound before backing way off for the tune to assume Devo-style vocals. This one’s a keeper with everybody getting a chance to shine without it seeming cheesy. The long, entrancing instrumental passages would make this one perfect for the stage show. Vocalists Clarant and Basile have plenty of time to hydrate.
I could go on about the hypnotic “Doppler” or Nathan‘s crazy steel drum (machine?) that opens “Dolorès.” I could then maybe riff on how the vocals on “Chien méchant” both do and don’t remind me of The Dead Milkmen, and finish with a whole paean to the butt-wigglyness of “Space Sympathizer.”
But that would just be a hat on a hat. This is fun, old-school-reminiscent Alternative College Radio Rock. And you should listen to it.
*Tours, France – my day job is a history teacher, so I’m sort of obligated to point out that Tours is the site of a rather famous battle where Charles “The Hammer” Martel (grandfather of Charlemagne) fought the Muslims of 732 and marks the furthest into Europe they reached. One of those places that deserves a footnote.
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8 / 10
LARRY ROGERS
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