Luna Is Honey: Sex Museum
When we last left our friends Luna is Honey, I had just reviewed their 2010 EP “Copy Cat”. Last Valentine’s Day, Luna Is Honey released their latest album “Sex Museum”. This came as quite a surprise to me. I’ve been the Museum of Sex in New York City, and I have to say that nothing on “Copy Cat” had me thinking Luna Is Honey was capable of going that way. The way of sex, that is. And so, the album title as well as song titles had me scratching my head unsure of what to expect.
In many ways “Sex Museum” and the Museum of Sex affected me the same way. At first, both seemed a bit of a letdown. The actual museum started off with some displays of early Japanese pornographic drawings. They were basically cartoons with men and women. Only unlike modern anime, the ancient drawings focused on drawing the penis in extremely large dimensions. Needless to say, I wasn’t too impressed. “Sex Museum” started off much the same way. Expecting some overly sexual songs, the type of thing many rap songs get into, I found quite the opposite.
“Bite” shows that the album backs off from the poppy sound of their “Copy Cat” EP. It had a punkish/grunge feel to. In fact, my first impression was that it sounded like something you might hear from early Nirvana (Bleach). The song is faster and more mashed together than anything from their EP. And the bass is much heavier.
“Green Nails” sort of reminded me of Jane’s Addiction with the sound of the guitars, and the whiny aspect of Josh Crampton. It also had that awkward sexual energy of Prince, which they covered on their EP.
Basically, the album went this way until we reached the track “P.O.P.”. That’s about the point in the actual Museum of Sex where you find yourself in the early sex toys exhibit. This was where you’re mind got blown away. And “P.O.P” is much the same. Featuring KJ Tony, whose got that Isaac Hayes voice, the track is nothing more than some sort of skit where KJ declares that “This girl needs a sexercism”. He then gets the crowd to start chanting “the power of the pussy compels you.” P.O.P., get it?
From there we get to “U-Haul Brothel” which features plenty of sexual references, even introducing Rhea Tepp to add a female quality when she croons about her “bruised knees” among other things. “Drippin’ Wet” uses the word “swallow” a lot, and I can only take it to mean one thing. But the most suggestive track has to be “666 Booty Call”. The track starts off with Josh Crampton calling Hayley Martel for a booty call. Spliced into the actual music are samples of Hayley making sex noises.
The album finishes off with “The Shit”, which feels like their very own tribute to Prince. The musicality of using guitars without getting too into the rock zone, along with those quirky Prince-like lyrics that are quite absurd, and the high pitched ohs. And that’s when it hits you that Luna Is Honey must be Prince fans.
To say that Luna Is Honey stuck to their old formula is a lie. They tried something new with “Sex Museum”. I’m unsure if you can say that they hit a homerun here. But I can say that they have evolved. I’m a bit surprised with the themes of some of the tracks since “Copy Cat”. It’s sort of like having a teenage cousin who changes over one summer and acts completely different when you see them again. The old 180 turn into something you weren’t expecting. I’m wondering if the Valentine’s Day release had something to do with it. Check out “Drippin’ Wet” and decide for yourself.
Rating: 5.3/10
MP3: Luna Is Honey “Drippin’ Wet”
Buy: iTunes