Luna - Penthouse

The cover for this record is a perfect match for the music inside which has this late night laid back kind of vibe to it. You definitely hear traces of the Velvet Underground and Television (especially that early 90's reunion album) in here but that is a good thing in my mind. I like the simple, dreamy but very melodic songs and the production is really clean and minimal but it still sounds very lush which is an interesting trick. Dean Wareham's vocals are very mellow in the Tom Verlaine or Steve Kilbey kind of way with a "personality" to them.

The opening track Chinatown is a good introduction to the band with its clean guitar playing and quirky backing vocals. 23 Minutes In Brussels is a more upbeat number that features Tom Verlaine on lead guitar and some nice jamming instrumental passages. How could you not like a band who would write something like this "Heading for Tacoma/and driving too fast/Nixon's in a coma/And I hope it's gonna last".

I saw Luna at the Great American Music Hall on this tour and they did a cover of Donovan's Season Of The Witch which fit in quite well with their original stuff...."You got to pick up every stitch"....yes, most certainly, you do.

Buy it here.