Short Reviews [Moon Goose - 2019 - "Source Code"]

Due to a combination of Moon Goose being signed to a record label who specialise in releasing limited edition vinyl, plus me being behind on reviews due working on my books, I see from the label site that this album is already sold out. So if you want to get hold of this then you are going to have to do some digging, and if instrumental space rock is your thing then you need to get your miner’s hat on and grab your canary. I would urge you to visit FdeM’s wonderful site (grabbing some more vinyl before it goes) and visit the page dedicated to this album. There the band are asked the question as to what their influences are, and their response is “Musical influences include, for example, Tibetan chanting monks, Can, and Bronski Beat. Beyond that, it is fair to say that the entire universe influences Moon Goose in one way or another. And in a strange additional twist, Moon Goose is partly influenced by events that have not yet happened. It can thus be seen as music for the Ecozoic era.” Did you see the name Can? Oh yes, here we have a Devonian band (back in the depths of time, Devon was where I grew up, but musically it isn’t exactly an oasis) who are referencing Can when we are virtually a fifth of the way into the 21st Century. Can is an obvious starting point, but there are also plenty of early Hawkwind influences as well as Pink Floyd, and the result is an album which is 74 minutes of mind-expanding music. It swirls, it rocks, it speeds up (and slows down), and the feeling is one of a group of musicians (in a hay barn if the interview is to be believed) all staring at each other and going where the music takes them. This is a journey for the band as well as the listener, and it is only by tying ourselves to the chair that we know we will physically in the same place when it ends although the same may not be true for our mind. The Bronski Beat mention is obviously tongue in cheek, but there are bits here and there where one can almost believe them with some more upbeat and modern (bearing in mind that “Smalltown Boy” was a hit 35 years ago, feeling old yet?) elements here and there. There are times when the funked and treated guitar is at the front, where at others it is the keyboards which also switch from piano to oscillators as the need arises. Overall the album is a delight, and it certainly doesn’t feel like a debut. Let’s finish with the band’s plans for 2019. “Most things happen without a huge amount of forward planning, when it comes to the Goose, so it’s hard to say what the year has in store. Some gigs are confirmed in a range of locations including Cardiff, a field somewhere in mid-Wales, and Cardigan. Other gigs are under discussion for Nottingham; Oxford; and New Radnor. Moon Goose has also started work on a second album, which ideally would be released before the first one, but that appears unlikely.” Let’s hope that second album is out soon!