Moaning Moaning (Self-Titled) Vinyl LP Indies 'Loser' Colour 2018

Tracklist:

Don’t Go
Tired
Artificial
Close
Does This Work For You
The Same
For Now
Useless
Misheard
Somewhere in There

Moaning are a band defined by duality. The abrasive post-punk trio, comprised of LA
DIY veterans, Sean Solomon, Pascal Stevenson and Andrew MacKelvie, began nearly
a decade after the three started playing music together. Their impassioned debut
album comes born out of the members’ experiences with love and distress, creating
a sound uniquely dark and sincere. Although the band is just breaking out of their
infancy, Moaning’s sleek and cavernous tone emphasizes the turmoil of the era they
were born into. One where the endless possibility for art and creation is met with the
fear and doubt of an uncertain future.
Solomon, Stevenson and MacKelvie initially met as teenagers while growing up in the
San Fernando Valley and immediately developed a kinship through Los Angeles’s
local music scene. The three began regularly frequenting DIY institutions like The
Smell and Pehrspace, eventually selling out dozens of their own shows at both
venues with their first few bands. Moaning’s conception came when Solomon sent
Stevenson and MacKelvie the first demo for ‘Don’t Go’, setting the tone for the
impulsive songwriting that would follow. The three fleshed out Solomon’s primitive
recordings, adding in MacKelvie’s heavy syncopated drumming and Stevenson’s
melodic driving bass and synth parts, capturing each member’s personality in their
sparse and fuzzed out tracks. Like many of their previous collaborative projects,
Moaning force pain up against pleasure, using the complexity of personal heartbreak
to inform the band’s conflicted sound. The band chose the moniker Moaning,
admiring the ambiguity the name held and hoping to reference both an intimate wail
and an anguished scream.
The band’s homemade video for an early, home-recorded version of ‘The Same’
caught the attention of Alex Newport, a seasoned engineer and producer who had
previously worked with At The Drive-In, Bloc Party and the Melvins. With Newport,
Moaning began working on the tracks that would make up their self-titled release,
employing a lush, open-ended production quality that had never been at the band’s
disposal.
As a whole, Moaning drifts from sentimental to catastrophic, hiding meek and
introspective lyrics within powerful droning dance songs, giving sonic nods to some
of the band’s musical heroes like New Order, Broadcast, and Slowdive. The band’s
youthful attitude is met with the weight of topics like loss, routine and mental health,
reflecting the anxiety towards the status quo that much of their generation faces
today. Where many young bands take years to find their footing as writers and
performers, Moaning have built up a confidence in sound and vision from the ten
years of playing basements, bars and ballrooms together in their previous projects.
Yet, even with their polished exterior, Moaning continue to make the sacrifice of
deeply personal anecdotes and emotions to their audience for the benefit of their
craft.
Loser Edition coloured vinyl LP available to independent retailers only.