Melodic yet dark.
It has long been said about good music that the devil holds the best tunes. From the golden days of blues artists allegedly selling their souls down at the crossroads for talent and fame, through the 70's and 80's where black magic worshipping gave way to slightly camp devil worship, the leering face of Old Nick has loomed large in popular music.
Moros Eros probably know this too and align themselves on their debut release, 'I saw the devil last night and now the sun shines bright.' It's a rather long and tongue tying title and if you judged a book by its cover may lead you down a few forgotten paths. Lets make this clear, on first few listens, this albums firmly belongs in the same bracket of US indie charmers such as The Shins, Modest Mouse or anyone else who tries to merge melody with classic 80s indie. Okay, they may be the strange darker cousins of these bands who seem a bit off and shouldn't be allowed near pets or naked flames but on the whole, Moros Eros make some good tunes.
Even better, before the end of opener, 'Today is the day', a rather subtle chorus sneaks out from nowhere and immediately the record has you hooked for more. By the time, the tub-thumping intro to 'Short of the shore' rolls out of the speakers; you're ready to forgive the Razorlight-esque guitar line that follows. As everyone knows, Razorlight stole their strut from Talking Heads so perhaps we should allow Moros Eros to steal it back.
Lead singer Zach Tiptons vocals are always high in the mix and in your face, at times being yelpy and exciting, at times evoking the emotional delivery of The Rapture but they're never dull or annoy too much. At times the tunes are string and he does well to shine in front of the music but there is enough variety to maintain interest over the course of the record.
The longer the album goes, the more melancholic the feel becomes, the music slows and the pace drops, with 'Madness seems so normal' having a funeral procession quality to it that even a sprightly guitar line cant disguise or diminish and by the time the final track's debate over Jesus and Satan flickers out, initial thoughts are quite impressive and its likely the album will be hit back to the start to find out more.
As recommendations go, playing the album for a second time so soon after the first listen can only be commended and Moros Eros have definitely delivered a likeable and quality album, if at times perhaps difficult to pin down, as it straddles a lot of borders and styles, without ever being too varied. Chalk another one up to the devil.