Moose Live A Little Love A Lot Play It Again Sam, 1996 amazon

Back from a minor wedding-related hiatus, i'm again returning to one of my favorites of old this week, cheerfully brought back into my awareness through the wonders of random play in iTunes. Moose were a band i sidestepped into around 1997 after hearing their name mentioned repeatedly in connection with beloved shoegazers like Ride and Chapterhouse. After receiving 1994's Honey Bee and 1996's Live A Little Love A Lot from Action Records mail order (a fantastic spot to pick up UK imports, by the way), i was a bit perplexed at how these guys came to be associated with the drony guitar wail of the shoegazing scene. Before long i discovered that their 1991-1992 output was the source of the Ride comparisons, but nevertheless Live A Little was the album that stuck in my CD player. The songs are firmly rooted in folk and country, but are made unforgettable by accents created by an arsenal of effects of which My Bloody Valentine would be proud. Reverb, echo, and flange highlight the bittersweet love songs found within, especially the wistful rainy day anthem "Last Balloon To Nice". A hint of the "wall of sound" approach can be heard in the backing guitar on "So Much Love, So Little Time", yet it is offset by a harmony of intermingling slide guitar and piano. The closer "Regulo 7" layers vocals over a looped string piece, taking a detour in the middle for a reverbed guitar riff pounded forward by the only drums found in the song. Overall, you're left mesmerized by the album for reasons you can't quite identify. Unusual, genre-defying, and captivating all at once.

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