A silver lining --- We Shot the Moon --- 2009 (Afternoon)
I've never been quite clear on what the phrase “shoot the moon” means, though I've seen it around quite a lot. Whatever it does mean, it was the name Honor Roll from San Diego changed their band to after their previous band, Waking Ashland, officially broke up in 2007, having been together four years. Like a lot of my purchases, these guys were just a band I happened across, liking the name (though still not understanding it) and further, liking the sample tracks I heard from their newest album. Deciding to put that on hold just for the moment, I thought to go a little back into their catalogue, and so this is actually their second album, which was released two years after they formed. Or reformed, whichever you prefer.
There's a nice upbeat mix of piano and guitar on the opener “Miracle”, very commercial with elements of the likes of Embrace, Snow Patrol and a bit more uppy Coldplay, the piano certainly carrying a lot of the melody on at least this track. Singer Jonathan Jones has one of those indie/emo voices which can be found in nearly every alt-rock band these days, but that doesn't take away from its integrity, and this is very enjoyable stuff. I hear elements of Deacon Blue in there too, and it's a good kickoff for the album, then “Woke her up” borrows a very familiar piano opening from a Coldplay song, but rocks along nicely once it gets going and certainly sets WStM's own stamp on the song, another uptempo rocker with a lot of angst and certain touches of Irish band The Script in it. It's followed by “Should have been”, another fast rocker with bippy keys reminscent of China Crisis or a-ha. You could certainly hear most of these songs so far being used as those “bridging songs” or backdrops to the latest teen drama, you know the sort of thing.
Credit should be given to Michael Grimm too, who keeps the edge hard and rockin' with his fine guitar playing, especially here, as the piano takes something of a backseat, Jones relying on his vocals to carry the song through, but they're back for “The bright side”, which I realise I already know, with some very nice classical-style piano alternating with hard, sharp, punchy guitar to create a really fun song. This also seems to be the ethos of We Shot the Moon, or at least the way I see to approach them: the songs on this album are all short, two to three minutes average, and are obviously written with a view to radio airplay and singles (whether they achieved any chart success I don't know), and are not to be delved into too deeply. It's just happy, carefree music, which is no bad thing.
What sounds like the first ballad is led in by acoustic piano from Jones, with his smooth vocals overlaying the song as “Come back” gets going, with a rather nice laidback guitar solo from Grimm, the song itself very catchy, like most of the rest of the album it would seem. Inoffensive would be a cruel way to describe this music, but it's unlikely to get anyone too overexcited or passionate, while at the same time being entirely listenable. They do their best to inject some proper rock life into “Red night”, and it does rise a little above the more radio-friendly fare that they've purveyed so far on this recording: I can see audiences jumping up and down to this onstage, and things stay relatively heavy for “In good time”, with again Grimm's guitar taking charge.
The title track then cuts back a little, scaling back the guitar just a touch to allow the piano to shine through again, while yet adding plenty of riffs as the song goes on, and it's another uptempo, honest piece of rock, leading into “Amarillo”, which, thank the rock gods, is not a cover of the old Tony Christie pop hit, but a totally different song altogether, again very upbeat and rocking along nicely, clocking in also as the longest track on the album, just short of four minutes. Very happy and positive, like much of We Shot the Moon's music, which you really can't fault. No, it's not the most involved, technical or deep music ever written, but neither is it wallpaper or filler music, and I definitely would not describe it as by-the-numbers rock.
“Amy”, the second ballad, is carried on a gorgeous little piano line, though it gets a little heavier as it goes, mostly due to the input from Michael Grimm's powerful guitar, which indeed rips off a fine little solo towards the end. And speaking of the end, we're approaching it now as the final track comes into view, with “Candles” closing the album on a nice uptempo punchy little rocker.
I'd be the first to say that We Shot the Moon don't exactly bowl you over, but they definitely have something. Yes, a lot of their music is derivative and really there's nothing that terribly new or inventive about it, and you would really be hard-pressed to pick them out from a lineup of twenty other alt-rock/indie bands, but as I've said about other bands, for what they do they do it well, and sometimes that's all you can expect. They're not likely to go setting the world on fire, but they could contribute to helping keep it from falling asleep.
Shooting for the moon, they may not have quite reached it, but on the way down they've definitely grabbed something sparkly.
TRACKLISTING
1. Miracle
2. Woke her up
3. Should have been
4. The bright side
5. Come back
6. Red night
7. In good time
8. A silver lining
9. Amarillo
10. Amy
11. Candles