Thursday 6 September 2012

Menomena - Moms (8.2/10)

Menomena are one of my favourite bands & have been for quite some time, their mix of experimental and traditional indie rock has always drawn me in, & when they announced the band would be losing long time member Knopf so he could focus on his other band 'Ramona Falls' I grew a bit worried as some of his contributions where my favourite. Luckily for me 'Moms' doesn't sound like a band in disarray at all & in fact feels even more reassured and better put together then previous release 'Mines' which was a pretty great album but didn't quite tickle me in the same way the magnificent 'Friend & Foe' did. This album starts off incredibly strong with 'Plumage' & 'Capsule' being incredibly ear catching with bold, memorable & loud melodies being thrown at you from the word go. 'Capsule' also given time to breathe with an incredibly nice and sombre ending which shows Menomena's gift in being able to take what sounds like a predictable pop song into an entirely new direction as if it comes second nature. 'Pique' is the track that follows & this maybe the highlight for me with it's quite sombre build and brilliant vocal harmonies playing a particually ear catching drum beat and a fantastic ear catching chorus and some brilliant uses of horns, it's busy but incredibly pleasing to the ear, it's one of the most fully realised songs Menomena have put out to date. 'Heavy Is As Heavy Does' is an album with quite frankly stunning progression which Menomena have shown signs of before but never so clearly & it's ball grippingly brilliant. Both approachable and off the wall experimental,  'Moms' is an album full of all the highs of Friends And Foe but it's also an album that feels a lot more consistent, complete & accomplished. Menomenas strongest experimental and conventional song writing is to be found here and it's a great marriage. 

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