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DVDfever.co.uk – The Yellow Moon Band: Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World
Static Caravan Records
- Released: January 2009
- Rating: 10/10++
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Long album title: short song titles: BIG album.
As debuts go, this is very very impressive, even more so because, basically theyre an instrumental band. We get vocals but theyre limited, and effective.
Giving a massive nod to 70s classic rock, TYMB have tapped into the genres key elements, and could make them the most exiting discovery of 2009. Shame they dont have a singer, but thats being churlish, because this album is SENSATIONAL, really.
As an art student brought up on dollops of riffs and mesmerising solos, these guys will appeal to the petuly oil brigade, which, I hasten to add, I never indulged in.
Back to the music, Mathew Priest (drums/vocals), Rudy Carroll (guitar/mandolin), Jo Bartlett (guitar/vocals) and Danny Hagan (bass/vocals) fall somewhere between Wishbone Ash and many 70s greats like Dutch masters Focus and then art-rockers Genesis.
This is rock with hi-energy melody (yes it can be achieved) from four guys who are maestros of their instruments and immaculate songcraft, and this can heard from the get-go countrified wanderings of Polaris, which in a Wishbone Ash (remember Argus) way, building and layering their instruments, and playing them out of their skin. Jimmy Page would be drooling over the long solo here.
Wiry solos and that twin guitar lead synonymous with Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy rolls out, backed by a thumping rhythm section, with Entangled showing more guitar lick showboating. What follows, Maybach, has a scintillating riff and solo thats mind-boggling, though its not all blood and thunder, as they dip-down for a while, regaining their stride with full-on pedal to the metal.
Focused, is stylish and penetrating, pooling all the memories (or renewed interest) they can muster from 30 years ago. Frenetic acoustic strums open Domini, and prefix what turns out to be steady beat and wailing guitar licks that twist and turn before it moves into another gear. Heavy nylon string picks, and pedal steel ooze and melt into each other in perfect harmony (and shades of Led Zeps gentler moments) to the slowest tack here Window: its amazing stuff, honestly.
To end it all, and you really dont want it to end, Lunadelica is a monster thatll define this band forever.
The Yellow Moon Band may draw on the past, but youd never know it, as theyre the only band (in my books anyway) whove really cracked modern classic rock.
The verdict: Absolutely brilliant a real guitar band for the 21st century.
Weblink:staticcaravan.org.com Radio: Hear tracks soon onwrexhamfm.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Polaris
2. Chimney
3. Entangled
4. Maybach
5. Focussed
6. Domini
7. Window
8. LunadelicaView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.