Because I love them so much, I want to throw the Moore Brothers a little CT whuffie. They are so awesome. Now they’ve gone in a more folk direction, but my favorite album is the rocking Thumb of the Maid album, a one-off from 1998. (I’ve talked to them about it, and for some reason they think of this as a partial failure, when it’s actually their best album. Go figure.) Thom Moore’s Spitting Songs is also amazing, and a few of the best songs are reprised on 2004’s Now Is The Time For Love. I’m trying to think how to describe their style, and it’s difficult. I once read a review that compared them unfavorably to Guided By Voices, and I was like, WTF does Guided By Voices have to do with anything? They have that family member harmony going on, the one that makes the Carter Family send chills up your spine. Funny lyrics: “took her to the beach/she thinks it’s Berkeley Bowl.” Also, the song “Hey Twelve”, which I assume is a joke about Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen”, and is one of the great songs of all time. My friend Daniel had the (I think brilliant) suggestion that they should take over from Phish on the continuous concert circuit, but they don’t actually sound anything like Phish. Anyway, despite my faults as a rock critic, you just have to take my word for it that they are great. You can listen to lotsa streaming mp3’s on their site. Go send them some love. (Also, did I ever tell you that you should love the High Llamas? That seems relevant somehow.)
{ 3 comments }
Yusuf Smith 02.25.05 at 1:03 pm
Is that the same Thom Moore that wrote songs which Mary Black covered (Carolina Rua, Still Believing, Golden Thread, The Fog In Monterrey)?
Brett 02.25.05 at 6:53 pm
Great post, and good choice. I’ve got “On and Out” and “Colossal Small,” and they are both really enjoyable. One of the things I like is that Thom and Greg have very different writing styles, and they alternate on the albums, so each album is like a complex dialogue. Good stuff.
(Full disclosure: Greg and I were exchange students together in Germany way back when, and I think he’s a wonderful person in addition to being a fine musician. I can’t imagine someone I’d rather have a beer with in Berkeley.)
praktike 02.26.05 at 3:27 am
Guided by Voices is the greatest band of all time, provided you don’t listen to any of the bad stuff.
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