Lunar "Turbo" CD
[Moonlee]
I've never heard of this Croatian band before, but this is their third full-length, though ironically their second full-length was never released, as it was recorded digitally and a malfunction of some sort lost the files forever.  Which brings us to this rather strong effort having been recorded entirely using analog means, so it sounds nice and natural and lays a solid foundation for their largely instrumental brand of moody and melodic music.  In many ways they're slightly similar to their labelmates and fellow Croatians in Don't Mess With Texas, as this music seems to be inspired by both the emo/indie rock scene as well as more of a lush and lightly experimental sort of droning modern rock twist (think hints of Coldplay, Radiohead, etc.), so the compositions tend to be fairly calm and restrained, but there are some bits and pieces that get a little more intense and rhythmic.  "Pizza Song" is among the only tunes that has some distant vocals that are sort of quietly spoken/sung, but despite some unfortunate song titles the aesthetic of the music is actually quite emotional, and the lyrics (which are not included since there are almost no vocals) seem to be serious as well.  I'm not really a big fan of bands using silly song titles like "Pizza Song" or "Retard Numerique" (among others) when the characteristics of their music are much more moving and serious, but I can easily overlook it in this case because I really like what these guys are doing.  Lunar is definitely a fitting band name for the group, as there's somewhat of a spacey quality happening at times, especially when the music is a little less traditional and the use of effects on the guitars gets a little heavier.  "Radio Free Interference" is definitely darker, opening with more of an ambient undercurrent and using some samples before proceeding into a slow march that has a really somber atmosphere lingering about, eventually building into a louder and more gripping display of instrumentation.  "My Moon" follows and is also a slightly longer than average piece, keeping the slower and more somber feel and bringing in some effects over the percussion to add some additional depth to the composition.  Among the more indie rock sounding material are songs such as "Davorova Grana", which is probably the most openly discordant track in its use of jagged chord phrasings and layers of both clean and distorted guitars.  The last song, "Bee-Bop", is the only one I'm not fond of, as its brief 1:40 running time and use of spoken samples over electronic sounding beats just feels out of place amidst such beautiful songwriting elsewhere.  The production sounds pretty damn good to me, though.  There's a lot of brightness to some of the drumming as well as the guitars, so there's a nice high-end ring going on over the punchy kick drums and plodding basslines, which both offer plenty of density to keep things in place.  It's a really crisp and warm mix that lets all of the details shine through.  A lot of times the guitar in the left channel feels a little louder than the guitar in the right channel, but that does kind of give the bass more breathing room, and it places more emphasis on the interaction between guitar lines and swirling effects, which is a nice touch.  There's not much going on visually, as it's mainly just red and blue textures with some star shapes and consistent text throughout the design for the credits and tracklist.  It looks pretty good, though.  This is a very nice piece of work.  The band has a real knack for writing compositions that are repetitious and build around a theme without getting boring at all.  I have to say though, despite the fact that they know how to handle themselves as an almost entirely instrumental unit, I'd like to hear them bring vocals in more often, as their strongest and most moving melodies could be made even more emotional with the right vocal performances.  Who knows?  Good work either way.  This is another obscure band that deserves far more attention, so I hope that international boundaries won't harm them in that regard.  Very nice. (7/10)
Running time - 47:12, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Pizza Song, Radio Free Interference, Davorova Grana]
Moonlee Records - http://www.moonleerecords.com

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