John Elderkin and ¡Moonbeams No Mas!
The seventeen track opus The Fall and
Rise of John Elderkin and ¡Moonbeams No Mas!
hails from a different place in popular
music’s history when daring performers stood committed to breaking the well
established forms of pop music and imposing artistic considerations on their
work that the art form was supposedly too limited to ever accommodate. Elderkin
is one of the best songwriters in America today – no joke. His album combines
deceptively simple musical arrangements with lyrical depth that doesn’t much
more than acknowledge his artistic and musical debts. His personality and
experiences emerge fully formed from this release while his love for the form
lights up the collection with a surfeit of inspiration reaching far beyond what
many of his contemporaries release or aspire to. The Fall and Rise of John
Elderkin and ¡Moonbeams No Mas! is quite unlike anything else you’ll encounter
in 2017 and, more than likely, for years to come.
It begins on a relatively sedate note.
“We Waited Five Years” comes across, in some ways, as a post-modern folk song
and finds firm footing in the singer/songwriter genre, but Elderkin’s
sensibility is such that he can’t resist tweaking our expectations with some
unusual variations of texture and sound, particularly on the song’s second
half.. “The Message” shows Elderkin moving in much more distant, experimental
territory. There are no vocals in the traditional sense, only an assortment of
chant like voices moving over a keyboard laced backing track. It has a vaguely
spiritual air that listeners aren’t likely to pin down to one particular place.
“Song for David Bowie” starts off as an acoustic track coupled with Elderkin’s
vocal and gradually transitions into a more assertive arrangement during the
second half. “Don’t Look Right at the Sun” moves through a number of different
moods and tempos before concluding with a guitar-laden final section that
brings everything to an explosive conclusion. The vocal is especially rugged
and passionate – Elderkin’s versatility in attacking the softer and more
rambunctious numbers alike is well worth noting.
“Get Back in the Van” is a slice of
life from the struggles of a touring indie band. There’s plenty of humor in
this piece, one of the album’s more underrated virtues, and the lyrically mix
of concrete detail with suggestiveness makes it quite a memorable ride.
Elderkin takes a much more sensitive
turn with the piano driven arrangement and a singing performance from Elderkin
that covers all possible bases. “Fat Levon on Acid” is an outright freakout and
sound s sort of incongruous placed along side the earlier tracks, but it’s some
good fun regardless. The ragged march pushing “Megaphone on the Moon” has a
ragged but right quality about ot that slowly draws you in. The Fall and Rise
of John Elderkin and ¡Moonbeams No Mas! is a first class operation of powerhouse
musicians and superior songwriting talent and this album represents a quantum
shift in how Elderkin will be perceived from this point forward.
Scott Wigley
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