Appalachian Trail plans have fallen through for a little while due to inclement weather, so here’s another post.
I first talked about The Moonbabies almost a year ago and mentioned that they were working on a full-length record to be released in 2007. Well, it came out a few months back and is called Moonbabies At the Ballroom (eMusic). My original description of them as purveyors of “twee mixed with shoegaze, sunny electronica-pop…whatever you want to call it” holds true with this record.
It features (by far) their best song, the one that got me into them in the first place, the magical twee explosion that is “War on Sound.” And while nothing else reaches those lofty heights, there’s still quite a bit to like here, from the (virtually obligatory) tone-setting atmospheric chamber pop of the opener “21st Century Heart” to the effervescent “Take Me to the Ballroom” to the perfect accidental cultural anticipation in having a song named “Ratatouille” released this summer, to the obligatory 60s girl group reference of “Shout it Out” (which lifts the line from “Then He Kissed Me).
All in all, it’s a fine feast of Spector-influenced sonics, acoustic guitars paired with electronics, and endlessly pure vocals. There is nothing enigmatic here – it’s simply a beautiful pop album.