3 out of 5

Label: Estrus

Produced by: Birdstuff, Jim Marrer

I go back and forth on MoAM’s debut between being pleased as punch by the rawness and 60s surf geeky spirit of this recorded-live affair and annoyed at its stagnance.  There’s a very stubborn unwillingness to innovate beyond a few basic templates – Ventures riffs; all-out yell-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-blast; extended jams – that tires after you’ve been around the block a couple times, especially when the group’s either smirkingly purposeful repetition of or limited abilities (at this point) with their samples results in some movie snippets being noisy ad nauseum instead of amusing lead-ins.  I mean, they certainly have the latter on tracks like Invasion Of The Dragonmen, but then you have the obnoxious Human Calculator which, even under three minutes, is two minutes more than needed to get the gist.

And I could recycle that last comment for the album: it works in small batches.  The opening Taxidermist Surf sets the tone, and while the aforementioned Dragonmen doesn’t alter that much, that’s followed by Nitrous Burn Out, which adds some rock flair, and a little bit later, our first of two cowboy-themed tracks which bring the noise: Cowboy Playing Dead.  Then… you’re done.  There’s hardly anything else under the hood, here, and it’s another frustrating note in the MoAM catalogue, in which any given album is either a disappointment or an exhilarating blast that makes you wonder why they’re not your favorite band.  What’s doubly frustrating here, though, is that this was their first release.  The press was positive, but I know if I had taken this as my sole impression, I likely wouldn’t have stuck around for what was to follow, as my excitement stirred by any given track – Organ Smash, or even the woozy laid-back seven-minute closer Alien Visitors – fades into malaise of a following song.

It’s pleasant on the ears, and your toe will tap, but it’s overall underwhelming given how energetic its highlights are.