{"id":498,"date":"2011-04-26T05:22:04","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T10:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2011-04-26T05:22:04","modified_gmt":"2011-04-26T10:22:04","slug":"album-review-ian-moore-and-the-lossy-coils-el-sonido-nuevo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/04\/26\/album-review-ian-moore-and-the-lossy-coils-el-sonido-nuevo\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Ian Moore and the Lossy Coils – El Sonido Nuevo"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a song kicks off sounding very much like Eddie Cochran<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cSomethin\u2019 Else,\u201d it gets my attention. And then when I discover that the song is instead an original — but one with the word \u201cSecondhand\u201d in its title — I\u2019m amused and intrigued. Ian Moore and the Lossy Coils<\/strong> don\u2019t milk that particular melody on \u201cSecondhand Store.\u2019\u201d In fact the song features twin-lead vocals that feel more like Rockpile<\/strong>. And that rock-rootsy approach is what\u2019s on order on El Sonido Nuevo<\/em>, twelve tracks of straight-ahead, highly tuneful rock.<\/p>\n

The slashing, martial beat of \u201cTap the Till\u201d draws inspiration from the Kinks<\/strong> and the Clash<\/strong>; a subtle finger-snapping middle eight and some deft and delicate piano makes it something special. Guitarist Moore shares vocals with bassist Matt Harris<\/strong>; the tight yet full sound of this (occasionally augmented) trio is well-represented on the songs.<\/p>\n

The songwriting is strong throughout the record; well-thought-out melodies feature subtle chord changes beneath the earnest and appealing vocal lines. The clean, clear aesthetic of the record gives it a feel similar to the first Marshall Crenshaw<\/strong><\/a> album (and one can\u2019t do much better than that). \u201cBelle, My Butterfly\u201d has some jangling guitar figures (think of The Beatles<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cIf I Needed Someone\u201d) with a dramatic surf-guitar lick.<\/p>\n

If Nick Lowe<\/strong> were from Texas and dialed back his wry sense of humor, he might sound like Ian Moore. At least on some songs; \u201c\u201dSilver Sunshine\u201d has a stacked vocal harmony intro that\u2019s closer (but not too close) to Brian Wilson<\/strong>. While melody is always out front on El Sonido Nuevo<\/em>, Moore deftly mixes in home gutsy guitar work; a crunchy electric guitar riff is the basis of \u201cSalt Mines.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>On \u201cThe Levees\u201d Moore channels Van Morrison<\/strong> through a rock sensibility.<\/p>\n

The production is intentionally very dry; there\u2019s almost no reverb on this record. The result is an intimate feel, one more akin to having Ian Moore and the Lossy Coils in your living room than in the club down the street. That approach serves the trio well; theirs is an artifice-free, no-bullshit sonic approach. \u201cLook Inside\u201d incessantly fiddles around with the beat: it\u2019s a great listen, but dancers are advised to avoid that track.<\/p>\n

On some level it\u2019s probably an in-joke, but Moore bookends El Sonido Nuevo<\/em> with another musical cop. Having started off with a fifties rock riff, he closes the record with a track called \u201cSad Affair.\u201d Both in melody and lyric, it\u2019s, um, let\u2019s say inspired<\/em> by the heartbreakingly majestic \u201cHolocaust\u201d from Big Star<\/strong>\u2019s Third<\/em>. But as the saying goes, if you\u2019re gonna steal, steal big.<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s a lovely song. And when a singer\/writer\/performer turns in an album filled with as many strong tracks as are found on El Sonido Nuevo<\/em>, they deserve a pass if they nick from Eddie Cochran and Alex Chilton<\/strong><\/a> on a track or two.<\/p>\n

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When a song kicks off sounding very much like Eddie Cochran\u2019s \u201cSomethin\u2019 Else,\u201d it gets my attention. And then when I discover that the song is instead an original — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}