Review: Moths & Locusts - Intro/Outro

Now this is startling....as in startlingly good and NOT what one would expect. Last years Moths & Locusts offering, 'Helios Rising' (read my review here) was a triumph of driving space rock and hazy psych and very much well up in a lot of peoples 'Best Of' list at the end of the year. On hearing the news that a new album was in the offing, it would be easy, and somewhat erroneous in hindsight, to assume it would be more of the same. However, the guys (Angus Barter (guitars / 8-string bass / synthesizer / Mellotron / vocals), Dave Bean (drums & percussion / guitar / synthesizer / vocals), Michael ‘Le Serpent’ Breen (guitars / bass / Mellotron) and Dave Read (bass / 6-string bass / synthesizer / Mellotron / random tone generator)) have gone a different, and if I may repeat myself, and startling route. For 'Intro/Outro' they have collaborated with world renowned producer Rob the Viking from multi-award-winning hip hop crew, Swollen Members, and the result is, frankly, amazing. Add to this the fact that the album is brought to you by two of the very best labels in the UK..well, you do the maths. Eggs in Aspic are responsible for the tape version and Cardinal Fuzz will be bringing out the vinyl and CD versions and in North America the ace NoiseAgonyMayhem will be releasing it...all round, a bit of a dream team.

It opens with 'Acid Cloud Pt.1' and straight away we are immersed into a cavernous world of hazy guitars and lush drones which opens up into a slow burning psych wonder. What really makes this track, however, are the ethereal vocalised wails and moans from sleeve design artist Valentina Cardinalli, they transform an already heady track into one rich in atmosphere...like the 'Great Gig In The Sky' but way more unhinged. It is at this point when you realise that you are in for a real treat. 'Sea Hell' takes a spoken word sample from Joseph M. Mauro’s 'British Columbia: One Hundred Years 1871-1971' and places it into a fuzzed up epic that replaces the hazy psych with some seriously funked up groove. The serious, maybe overly dramatic, intonation of the spoken word sits exceptionally well with the hugeness of the music. That being said there are passages of real beauty where the funky sonic battering is replaced by gentle vocal harmonies and some flute (courtesy of Samantha Letourneau)...an absolutely belting track! 'Hymn to Hathor' is heralded by more spoken world, this time of a more esoteric nature as befits a song about the Egyptian deity who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, dance, motherhood and joy (busy lady!). The track is a brief but highly atmospheric foray into drones and samples that paves the way for the gargantuan 'Strange Space'. This sees the band in stoner/psych mode and the track is huge...assaulting the listener with wave upon wave of fuzzed up riffs and pummeling drums. 'Acid Cloud Pt. 2' is a another leviathan of a track...ostensibly driving space rock with huge riffs but with a seam of menace running throughout, from the eerie chants at the beginning to the plaintive moans and solid wall of fuzz that sees the track out. 'Scream' acts as a balm to that menace...floating, light guitar and lovely synth washes provide a backdrop to muted vocals and the whole track is an oasis of calm and beauty. 'Roadside' is another brief track, it doesn't even reach the two minute mark, and is a lo-fi acoustic number..it has the feel of the folk club, from the chattering in the background to the bucolic music and vocals. 'He Who Has the Most Strings' sees 'normal' service resumed..a fuzzy bassline and tribalistic drums open up into a track that takes a gallimaufry of disparate influences and melds them into one...there are synths straight from a Carpenter movie that sit cheek by jowl with some industrial rhythms and all topped off with some chugging Hawkwindesque space rock..and it all works exceptionally well! This amazing album is closed with 'Martian Sunrise', a dub inflected electronica based track that bubbles nicely through the speakers. It has hints of sci-fi with the, as befits the title I guess, with some more Carpenter-like synth work, almost bordering of synthwave. It acts as a tranquil come down from what has come before.

I keep coming back to that word startling! When I receive a promo I always make a point of listening to it at least once before I read any associated blurb (likewise I never read other reviews...I always want to approach music with 'fresh ears') and I genuinely had to keep checking I was playing the right album and I mean this in a good way. Moths & Locusts have a real game-changer of an album on their hands here..they have subverted the psych form to create a beast of many different colours. There are still flashes of their previous psych/space rock ouvre but they have mixed it with a genuinely creative and surprising palette of goodies. I love it when you hear a band growing and evolving on record, and on this evidence Moths & Locusts have become surely one of the most important and inventive bands on the 'psych scene'. This really is a masterpiece and, yet again, my own personal list of 2017's best albums has been rejigged. Amazing stuff! The tapes can be pre-ordered from the Eggs In Aspic Bandcamp page here (but be quick!) and for the vinyl and CD versions head over to the Cardinal Fuzz site here to pre-order. Those in North America can purchase via the NoiseAgonyMayhem webshop here (pre-orders not up yet but keep 'em peeled!)