Dead Moon - Echoes of the Past

If you like psychedelic garage music and have yet to hear of Dead Moon, you're about to find the holy grail. Imagine a new double-disc album from the people behind Nuggets, containing 49 obscure but brilliant songs from a little band in Portland, Oregon. These instant classics will remind you of the great bands of the past (The Cramps, The Seeds, Led Zeppelin, Love) but from a completely unique mindset. Songwriter/guitarist/singer Fred Cole, with his wife Toody on vocals and bass, and friend Andrew Loomis on drums, is following the inspiration of songs like “Pushin’ Too Hard,” “Little Girl,” and “Seven and Seven Is.” If the life story of a human being can be told in three chords, Cole is the one to do it. Each of these tracks is a simple and brief explosion of rock and roll reality. Forget about the aimless angst of the self-indulgent sissies of Seattle and get a direct shot of savage, unpretentious rebellion from Portland. Cole is no superficial egomaniac in a basement with maybe three decent songs in him, but a ravaged ghost in the hills who was born inside a radio that had not yet heard of Elvis Presley. Through the decades of crappy fads, he has been writing and playing hundreds of songs, recording and releasing them by himself on his own equipment. This collection represents the best of his life’s work, and is essential listening. [www.deadmoonusa.com]