Anytime I get a CD that’s literally an Office Depot CD-R disc, and its wrapped in an album cover that is nothing more than a printed sheet folded over and glued to make a slip, I can’t help but feel unimportant. Clearly, I’m not important enough to get a real pressed copy of the album. So I get one where someone has handwritten the band name and album title in Sharpie. As the saying goes, however, “You never judge a book by its cover”.
Luna is Honey is signed to Model City Music, so they’re clearly not issuing albums on their own. Still, to say they have ample money to send albums out to everyone would be a lie. So, I appreciate what I can get from them.
Copy Cats was released earlier this year with six tracks from the band. To describe them, is a little difficult. The opening track “Who Wouldn’t?” starts off like a Stray Cats song with all the drums and rockabilly-like guitars. But that’s not the band at all. They’re more of a garage band meets pop-rock ensemble. And the album shows that with its lack of production.
Again, this isn’t a criticism. Its just a fact. Particularly when you hear pop-rock, you can’t help but get the sense that the finished product will never sound as good live. Its hard to get electrical equipment to sound fresh at a concert. Luna is Honey don’t really have that problem what with just the one keyboard. Still, the guitars sound a bit distorted but that’s intentional. I’d bet what you hear on the album is very much what you’d hear in person.
The band add a distinct cover to Prince‘s “I Would Die 4 U”. Focusing more on guitars and drums and less on the electronics of the original, I find it hard to argue that their take on the song isn’t very good. You can still pick up on what song it is, they didn’t completely make it over. They only added their slightly distorted guitars and upgraded the song to more rock than Prince’s original love ballad. Though, you still get those high screeched “Oh’s” that Prince likes to drop.
And “Luce” is a bit of a conundrum. It starts out with those rockabilly type beats on the drums and the guitars. Then the vocals kick into something that made me think of National Lampoon’s Vacation series theme. You know, “Holiday Road” by Lindsay Buckingham. It then moves onto some heavy rock breakdown. The type of thing Jimi Hendrix was known for, and grunge bands later used at live shows. It then breaks into more of a mellow song, complete with the beat counted off on drumsticks. It could serve as a seventh track to the album.
Sometimes what you see is what you get. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Luna is Honey is far from being Prince. So, they don’t get the backing of a large corporation to cover up any faults they have. They may seem plain as the CD and album cover I received, but that’s who they are. No flashing bright lights. No crazy manipulations of the soundboard. Just straight up, plug in and rock with a hint of what rock used to be. It didn’t start out being loud and obnoxious. It was meant more as dance music. And the poppy undertones of “Copy Cats” stays true to that. In the very least they deserve a listen. I mean, summer’s almost over, but there’ll still be some nice, warm, sunny days perfect for cruising in the fall. And “Copy Cats” would make a great soundtrack to just ease on into winter.
Rating: 6.9/10
