A Place To Bury Strangers – Do It All Again
It’s a truly strange thing to consider, but even bank robbers, revolutionaries and rock stars have moments when they get stuck on what ifs. They have to, don’t they? It’s simply how the human mind works.
I know that reading this, and considering that it might be true, disappoints you. We all want our heroes to be like the ones in the movies, shooting their guns with a smile, and taking a bullet in the chest without a whimper.
However, doesn’t the fact that these people are the same as you or me only make their death-defying feats all the more impressive? A Place To Bury Strangers, tight-rope acrobats of rock n’ roll, professional risk takers, dare to look back.
“Do It All Again” provides many of the same thrills that the New York group has made its calling card: strong melodies mangled up by shards of noise, and a nod to all sounds underground. But it’s an unexpected tenderness that makes the song unique in the group’s catalogue. It’s a song about regrets, untaken chances, the bitter, late-night what ifs. To know that even invulnerable rock stars have those somehow makes their music even more appealing.
Moon Machine – Moon Machine
You can’t blame anyone for the world changing. The best you can do is go outside, shake your fists at the sky, and the worst that can happen is that rain will fall down over your head, and you might get shocked by lightning. The world moves on!
You can’t get back the appeal of the faith healer any more than you can make the rock star appear like some kind of deity brought into the world with the sole purpose of playing guitar songs that made people lose their minds.
But there’s something left in the past, and, under the right circumstances, it can be clawed back into the present. It’s a kind of hopefulness that the music of Moon Machine embodies. It’s the idea that anything still can happen!
The band’s self-titled single (a bold move for any group!) is meant to sound like your best memory of the not-too-distant past. It’s retro rock from an era where music’s coordinates seemed to point toward something magical, something that might fix all problems.
