One could be forgiven for swearing off
Moonshake once hearing of
Margaret Fiedler and
John Frennet's defection to
Laika. After all, it was
Fiedler's fraught lyrics tempered with soothing vocals and
Frennet's dub-wise bass that provided some well-needed respite from
Dave Callahan's sneering antics on
Eva Luna.
Callahan's voice, an acquired taste, would be tough to swallow for a whole record. So quite wisely, he wrangles a supporting cast that helps make this a strikingly solid, bold, multi-dimensional follow-up to an acclaimed record. With drummer
Mig still on board,
Callahan enlists the help of
Collapsed Lung bassist
Johnny Dawe, who's just as skilled in
Jah Wobble-style dub gymnastics as his predecessor.
Polly Harvey and
Stereolab's
Katharine Gifford provide vocals throughout, not so much in the manner of a foil like
Fiedler, but more in a background sense. The sound is built on the same rhythmic template as
Eva Luna, that being
Public Image Ltd.'s
Metal Box. As the line on the back cover announces, the record is guitar-free, which shakes away some of the prior cacophony in favor of spaciousness and more jazzbo elements. Occasional trumpet on half of the record arrives courtesy of
Andrew Blick, while Raymond Dickaty adds woodwinds and brass, effectively taking the place of the guitar as focal point. Opener "Joker John" is warp-speed dub with rolling percussion and creaky swingset samples. The title track is as atonal as a brass-based instrumental can get, but the
Gene Krupa molestation and handclaps make it nice and snappy, if in a spastic fashion. Closer "Into Deep Neutral" is the closest
Moonshake gets to pop.
Callahan is at his most melodic;
Gifford and
Harvey double and triple him on the chorus, catapulted by breezy horn vamps.