Review: Moon Human – ‘Flavorfully Blue’

Seattle-based trio Moon Human (previously known as the Rainy Day Splish Splosh Band) has already seen great success with the release of their sophomore album, Flavorfully Blue, and their first on local microlabel Den Tapes. Named one of Bandcamp’s “Essential Releases of the Week”, Flavorfully Blue creates a sound unique and complex, combining various elements of math rock, post-punk, shoegaze, atmospheric cosmos and more.

A favorite track off the new album being the tense and rousing “Scarlett Sting.” “Scarlet Sting” opens with a restless and building melody, soft drums and guitar line eventually building up to a carefully controlled chaos as member Jon Duggar builds the chorus to a peak before the band carefully works back down to controlled tension and effortlessly back again. “Scarlet Sting” is often a live favorite for the band, but this recorded rendition showcases how much control Moon Human is able to hold onto while still creating chaos and tension for the listener.

On another favorite track, “Sweet Licks,” we can easily see how far the band has grown since their formation a little over a year ago. A re-recording off the band’s first release Worlds Warmest Dads, this time around “Sweet Licks” features a much cleaner lead guitar line in addition to vocals laden with a pained echoing effect. Drummer and producer Grant McGilberry also adds some unique and complex sound panning to the back half of the song, ending in a tone appropriate for the new and more mature tone for the release.

Flavorfully Blue is one hell of a project coming from such a young band. It’s astounding how effectively Moon Human has been able to develop their sound in just over year, proving them to be a power trio to watch in the upcoming months.

(You can stream/purchase the new album here and keep up with the band’s live shows here. Below you can check out tracks “Crazy Cat Lady,” which features layers upon layers of guitar and vocals from member Carter Prince, and the wonderfully drawing “Mimetic”.)

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