True Moon is a Swedish group incorporating Karolina Engdahl on vocals and bass, Tommy Tift on guitar, Frederik Orevad on drums, and Linus Segeratedt on guitar. They describe themselves as melodic punk/dark pop. Disillusioned with what they feel is a somewhat sanitised Scandinavian music scene, they offer raw and visceral reconnections to rock’s most black-hearted urges – an exploration of what we do in the shadows. This self-titled release is their first album, which emerges via Lovely Records. The tracks are 'Voodoo', 'Our Own Darkness', 'True Moon', 'Sugar', 'Just Like Smoke', 'Guns', 'Run Run Run', 'In the Dead of the Night, 'Things I Used to Tell You', 'Honey', and 'Guns RMX'...

I think True Moon is being pretty hard on Scandinavian music; aside from the Power Metal and Symphonic Metal bands which emerged in the 1990s, we’ve since had some very cool sounds in the categories of Death Metal and Melodic Black Metal and Folk/Pagan Metal. I can understand the need to do something a little different, but this band openly obtains their influences from the British post punk era of the late 1970s. They invoke Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and Joy Division as being among their influences, and that’s not a bad pedigree. However, I judge it as right that True Moon doesn’t really sound like any one of those bands.

Whereas the recently reviewed Blood Command album Cult Drugs has beautifully raw and raucous verses followed by more catchy choruses, this example is closer to the opposite way around, giving at times a goth rock feel to the songs. The standout songs on first listening include 'Voodoo', 'Sugar', and 'In the Dead of the Night'. Almost certainly it’s because they’re faster paced and heavier. After listening to the whole thing a second time, I warmed to all other songs aside from 'Guns', 'Honey', and 'Guns RMX'. In retrospect it seems ironic that the band would add an additional remix of the weakest song on the album.

I particularly liked the idea of the interconnecting noises and psychedelic influences which takes the songs in unexpected directions and adds to the ambience. Overall this is a solid debut album with definite room for improvement. That notoriously difficult second album could be a scorcher if the energy of the aforementioned songs is maintained. It’s nice to hear more female-fronted bands these days. The vocals are good, but the pace of the song lyrics could be varied a little more.

8

Ty Power