We Landed On The Moon!

Self-titled CD

self-released

Genres: indie rock

November 2006

WLOTM! sound like The Cranberries in the vocals and make semi-grungy compositions, with a strong Breeders influence to boot. Fem-fronted rock is the name of We Landed on the Moon's game and they pull it off very competently here. Don't expect any curveballs or experimentation, as this fivepiece go by the book for the entirety of this self-titled album, but a few listens should garner some measure of enjoyment out of your average indie rock listener. Singer Melissa Eccles' vocals don't quite grab me that all that well, and perhaps interfered with my initial impression of the band - but they are certainly competent, and once they've sunk in this record becomes quite satisfying.

There's a strong nineties indie rock vibe on these eleven songs, and indeed this sounds like it came out in 1994 as opposed to 2006, but this isn't necessarily a problem - as fans of earlier "alternative rock" will surely attest to. I'm particularly partial to the slower songs here, as they seem to have the most immediately appreciable melodies. "Mourning Dance" is very strong right off the bat, and "Before The Lights" (which starts off soft) could have been a radio single in the grungy part of the 90s. The rest is solid rock stuff, with occasional keyboards ("Simple Steps," "Muse") adding a slightly unpredictable element. Only finale "Without A Sound" really steps away from the norm here, ending the disc in an avalanche of bouncy keyboards and horns. We Landed On The Moon! may not break any super-new ground here, but they do this well and they've got good personality to boot. Bonus points because they sent me a t-shirt and (quite appropriately) astronaut food ice cream (mmm freeze-dried!) with this CD.

MP3s (from welandedonthemoon.com): everything is fine, simple steps

78%

Fun Fact: The first moon landing occurred on July 20, 1969 at 4:17:42 p.m EST.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 11 tracks, distributed by CD Baby, released 2006]