moe., No Guts, No Glory

moe.

No Guts, No Glory

Reviewed by: Lara Supan

Unfortunately the only thing this album is, is ironic.

With constantly changing styles and constantly repeated lyrics, this album lacks any signs of life. The tracks have no cohesiveness, the vocals lay way back in the mix and the lyrics don’t seem to be convincing anyone on the album they actually want to hear them. The solos sound like they were painstakingly prepared and rehearsed, with the exception of a pretty solid vibe solo in the fourth song, “Same Old Story”. The instrumentation and orchestration throughout the album would be impressive if they ever gelled, but it seems like they spent too much time on quantity and not enough on the quality of the tracks.

Track six, titled “Calyphornya”, starts with the line “sometimes everything seems so familiar”, which is quite apropos, especially after the third and fourth repetition of that line in the song. There are some good harmonies threaded throughout the album, and surprising moments, like a horn section showing up on “Blonde Hair and Blue Eyes” and the obvious Beatles tribute on “Little Miss Cup Half Empty”. There just seems to be a lack of substance, energy and momentum that will make you wonder if everything really does sound the same to these guys now.

moe. has been around for a long time. They’ve had their ups and downs, and they play an amazing show live. This album doesn’t do anything for them or what they’re trying to achieve. They played it way too safe on this one, so no guts and no glory for them this time. Go see them live and it may be a different story.

Rating: Listenable