It’s hard not to lump Luna into the category of mood music.
\nTheir musicianship and attention to strong songwriting can hold up
\nin most any listening environment. Still, it seems the best way to
\nlisten to Luna’s music is in a friend’s apartment, at around 2:30
\nin the morning, after many vodka tonics, and preferably in a big
\ncity. It’s the one band that should have been included in the
\nLost in Translation<\/i> soundtrack that wasn’t.<\/p>\n
Luna has unfairly been criticized for aping the Velvet
\nUnderground by elitist VU fans with nothing else better to do with
\ntheir lives. The band barely made a ripple in the ’90s, but their
\nmix of bohemian listlessness and songs about excess (be it in love,
\nmaterial or pharmaceutical goods) perfectly captures the general
\nmood of those who came of age in the ’90s without the
\npretentiousness of grunge. And while it is true, you can’t judge an
\nalbum by its cover, the cover of Luna’s album,
\nPenthouse<\/i>, sums up the album perfectly: elegant, excessive,
\nout of focus and the potential of being a flat-out masterpiece.<\/p>\n
Dean Wareham’s spacey vocals have a way of working into your
\nhead after one or two listens. In the woozy “23 Minutes in
\nBrussels,” Wareham’s chorus, “Say a prayer for you and me \/ say a
\nprayer \/ tell me do you miss me?” may not have the complexity of a
\nThom Yorke or an Ani DiFranco, but damned if it doesn’t linger
\nafter the track ends. Sean Eden’s guitar work and Stanley
\nDemenski’s drumming stand out, but when they are complementing each
\nother, as in the unexpected jam breakout in “Freakin’ and Peakin'”
\n– they’re absolutely stunning.<\/p>\n
Few bands have been able to straddle the line of being playful
\nand being sinister. Many times, it seems that Wareham and company
\nare too witty for their own good. Some lyrics are downright silly:
\n“Nixon’s in a coma \/ and I hope it’s gonna last” or “You’re out all
\nnight \/ chasing girlies \/ you’re late for work \/ and you go home
\nearlies.” However, their chemistry is just enough there to make
\neverything gel effortlessly, even in the cheesy cover of Serge
\nGainsbourg’s “Bonnie and Clyde.”<\/p>\n
\nPenthouse<\/i> is arguably Luna’s finest hour, even though all of
\ntheir releases are about the same in terms of quality. The only
\nedge that
\nPenthouse<\/i> has is its front-to-back cohesiveness. It’s one of
\nthose few albums in recent memory that actually justifies the label
\n“album.” Check into
\nPenthouse<\/i> — you’ll find it difficult to check out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6961],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37829","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-luna","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37829"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}