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Moop — Moop
(Tonzonen TON061, 2019, CD / LP / DL)

Moop — Ostara
(Tonzonen TON097, 2021, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2021-09-25

Moop Cover artOstara Cover art

When I look at the list of all the albums we’ve covered on the Tonzonen label, I see a whole bunch of rock, mostly leaning towards the arena of psychedelia and space, mostly really good. What you don’t see is anything like Moop. This French group (originally a quartet, now a trio) consists of guitar and drums along with one (or two) bari saxes, and there’s a distinct jazz flavor to their music, in spite of the heavy moments. I’m a huge fan of the bari sax in nearly any setting, and Moop does not disappoint — this is right up my alley, with an improvisational attitude to music that is at times crushingly heavy and at other times spaced out and nearly ambient. The group’s self-titled debut came out in 2019, and kicks off with the oddly-titled “Méfions-nous d'Épicure,” featuring long tones from the saxes, wandering aimlessly for a couple of minutes before the guitar enters with a rhythmic part, soon joined by the drums, and soon they’re cruising on an aggressive riff that’s interrupted by freeform freakouts, moving from one idea to another in a journey that rarely loops back to revisit past ideas. The guitar is distorted and treated with an octaver to provide some low end. The rest of the album consists of seven more inventive tracks exploring different aspects of their distinctive combination of rock and jazz. Sometimes one of the baris will take on the role of bass while the other is more melodic; sometimes both saxes will wind around each other in interesting ways while the guitar handles the bass part; and sometimes they just go off into crazy territory. “Where Is My Horny Car” starts out with backwards-echo notes from the guitar while the saxes sneak in with eerie notes that eventually take on a weird Middle-Eastern inflected melody that leads into a heavy section. “Joe Reste Cool” is another great track. On the whole, Moop is a great debut, signalling the arrival of a very original band.

For their second album, one of the bari saxes is gone, leaving behind a trio that seems to have gotten more willing to stretch out — Ostara presents only four tracks, two of which top the eleven-minute mark. The same blend of spaced-out passages and heavy riffs is present, though they seem to be leaning more towards the trippy sections. In the opening track, “Manlayl,” they don’t introduce a steady beat until around ten minutes in, and the riff only goes about 30 seconds before dissolving back into obscurity. “#eule” consists largely of a jerky, angular riff that gets hijacked by free-floating improvisation for most of its duration, though a slower version of the riff appears toward the end. The title track follows a similar path, with a long quiet section that eventually gets loud and raucous. Both Moop albums are worthy of attention, though the debut is certainly more immediately engaging.

Filed under: New releases, 2019 releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Moop

More info
http://moopercrew.bandcamp.com

 

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