Landing On The Moon: We Make History Now
Two of Surviving The Golden Age’s favorite artists have to be Portugal. The Man and Vampire Weekend. If any readers have been to see either of these acts in concert you may have experienced Landing On The Moon. The Omaha, Nebraska band have already had the pleasure of opening for Portugal. The Man, Vampire Weekend, Cursive, Say Anything, and The Fray. Last August they released their first album We Make History Now.
The band builds its music around harmony. Two guitars and a piano combine well to do that. And the guitars aren’t modified or distorted in any way. They sound simple and nice. Also, chords aren’t the focus of their music but actual note play. It gives the music a very crisp sound.
Having a male and female vocalist who are equally talented and have strong vocal presence on the album is a nice touch. The two trade off on lead vocals throughout the album which gives another dimension to the music. Their songs come in two separate views. One a female, and the other a male. The first two tracks “Time Is Gone” and “Hit The Road” basically sound like a man presenting what he can do, and the woman showing she can do it just as well if not better.
The album hits a bit of a snag with the tracks “October”, “Big E”, and “Where Have We Gone?”. All three continue to present the bands signature three piece harmonies, but they bog down to lengthy, slow tempo jam sessions a bit. At six minutes or over each, it gets a little redundant in feel. But they make up for that later on with “Letter” which focuses on the piano and trumpet. The female vocals are slow and sultry, and the whole piece has a slow, jazzy-rock feel to it. Just the way Megan Morgan describes the penmanship stands out amongst the other nine tracks. And at a time when you weren’t expecting it.
A fine intro to a band that is solid throughout, We Make History Now felt a little too plain. You get the general idea of the band’s sound quickly in the first half of the album. It would have been nice to see at least one more song that showed some experimentation or adventure such as “Letter”. I wouldn’t write them off just yet. They clearly have the skill and know how to make very good music without any fancy gadgetry. And they’ve opened for some big acts. I guess in the end, it just matters what you’re looking for out of an album. If you like “Time is Gone” and would like to hear more, do yourself the favor of buying “We Make History Now”.
Rating: 6.8/10
MP3: Landing On The Moon “Time Is Gone”
Buy: iTunes or Amazon
Landing On The Moon: We Make History Now
