OUT NOW on Tartarus Records is the album Moth Mother by shoegaze/slowcore band Lazy Legs, who are based in Portland, Oregon. Although first released last year, it’s just had a vinyl reissue, and is the bands second album, and the follow up to 2016’s Visiondeath.
Moth Mother begins with a fiery buzz saw guitar which breaks down in gentler tones, with question and answer vocals. The well-known alternative rock trope of quiet to loud is inverted to loud to quiet and brought up to its very zenith. It’s quite a way to start an album.
A calmer second track is found in “Backslide”, which blends the poppy and ethereal, with slightly otherworldly hooks and fuzzy noise sounding like a totally rocked-up, wall-of-sound Urusei Yatsura. The longest track on the album, there’s even a gentle reprise towards the end.
“Cloatheater” provides a noisier, punkier, slice of shoegaze, whilst “It’s True” blends Slowdive-style poppiness and Lush-like melodies with raw, Mogwaiesque guitar. Gentler moments are found with the sustaining, dreamlike soundscape of “Metamorphosis”. Haunting musical passages, verging on sadcore mix with Sonically explosive guitar such as on the double-whammy of “Silkworm” and “Nosebleed”. The latter containing some very pretty 90s 4AD band vocal warmth.
There’s pauses from the more noisier for layered, gentler tunes, such as “Wax” which, although dives into a heavy and fuzzy chorus, has more of a dream pop sensibility.The strings-led “Glow” is a brooding but charming instrumental, with so much character and atmosphere. The last tune on the album, “Pit”, utilises strings once more, with a thumping tympanic-style drum. Mellow guitar fires into a sonic blast of razor-noise, whilst strings and heavenly vocals bring Moth Mother to a close.
A blend of shoegaze, dream pop, sadcore and slowcore, Moth Mother is atmospheric, quiet, noisy, poppy and anthemic. This album effortlessly glides by, so needs and deserves multiple listens.
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