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MP3 MOOSSA - STEP RIGHT UP
16 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Jam-band, ROCK: Roots Rock
Details:
Moossa’s mighty confluence of sounds has gained the band a loyal and diverse following over the course of the past five years. Mixing jam flavored melodies with a roots-rock edge augmented by excellent musicianship and well-written songs these Richmond Va based rockers have concocted their own recipe for great indie rock. One critic invites the listener to “…think of Bob Dylan, Widespread Panic and Sublime being whipped in a blender with a couple of shots of Appleton Rum”. Whatever conclusions one might draw from that graphic imagery, Moossa continues to harvest their creativity with the release of Step Right Up, the band’s long-awaited follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2003 record Get Away.
Step Right Up is ambitious (16 tracks and over 65 minutes of music), explorative and truly representative of the Moossa sound. Earthy roots numbers are entwined with bits of scorching rock, funk, reggae and heart wrenching ballads that could have come down from the hills. The lilting reggae of “A little Bit Higher” has hints of psychedelic suggestion drizzled throughout. “Tollbooth” is a funk-driven pop song with the anthemic new millennium chorus “sitting in a tollbooth watching the world go by/ up down the gates and the lids of my eyes/ one day I know you’re going to realize that you were looking for something”. “11 and 5/8” is a fine example of a sort of Americana hip/hop, relevant and grooving and inspired by Bob Dylan’s “One Hunded and fifteenth Dream” to be comic with its satire of the down and out. “Dream”, guitarist Jim Fab’s gem, is ghostly and well executed, for the first time we hear Jim and bassist Ryan Davis’s vocals featured up front combined in masterful doubled production on the verse before the powerful chorus kicks in and buoyed throughout by Fab’s adept slide playing. It’s the perfect prelude to the CD’s other Beatlesque ballad; “Shut Down”. Davis contributes an alt rock hit with “It’s True” which is one of the band’s most requested live tunes; “I could move to Amsterdam or I could fly to Panama/ Sundown on the coast of Spain what am I still looking for.” The first half of the CD ends with “Stephanie Seemed Like A Good Idea” a 6/8 song of near despair by singer John Moossa which stirs up suggestions of Pearl Jam’s “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” and pays tribute to the band’s alt folk side.
The second half opens with a cover of Bob Marley’s “Rebel Music” (3 o’clock Roadblock) enhanced by vocalists Nancy Waldman and Allison Mills and crisply executed with the assistance of engineer Lance Koehler. “Rock Down Steady” evokes images of Moossa in preacher’s robes inviting the congregation to “reach inside and feel the power” while a steady thumping bass and the harmonica playing of Clark Lovelady lend credulity to this gospel blues. From saint to sinner, “Gypsy Queen” is a tongue in cheek country rock number perhaps bringing a humorist break to the CD at just the right time. “Lay Me Down” is a return to the smart funk introduced earlier in the mix. The CD resolves itself in a group of 4 songs that well portray the band’s dark emotional side so often a key impetus to excellent writing. Davis’ “It Isn’t Me” features a bleak soundscape complete with prepared piano, the perfect foil for Moossa’s gravelly vocals that seem made for this song. Leading us to “Hard Times” which out of the blue and maybe therefore somewhat suspectly sounds more like a ‘70’s punk tune then something that you would imagine this band to cough up but it all makes sense as it resolves itself into the sparse 4 line and one minute plus in length “Rambling Oklahoma Blues”
The CD was recorded in its entirety over a 5 month period at Lance Koehler’s Minimum Wage Studio in Richmond’s Oregon Hill. Local flavor is adroitly added to the mix as Koehler placed a mic outside the studio to capture street ambience as the only accompaniment to Moossa’s voice and guitar on “Mistake of Chance” the album ends with the sound of an anonymous local wondering if he’s going to make it to the corner.
Step Right Up is currently available online here at CDBaby as well as at https://www.tradebit.com and at all Moossa shows. Downloads will soon be available thru I-Tunes and many other web sources. Stay tuned for more from this band!
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