The band Moon Hooch just kicked off an Eastern US tour in support of their new release, “Life On Other Planets” at Hartford, CT’s Infinity Hall. You’ve never heard of Moon Hooch? Well, we’ll correct that issue in a moment!
Opening the show was a band originally formed in Brooklyn known as Sungazer. They kicked the evening off with a bang! They are listed as a duo with Adam Neely on bass and Shawn Crowder on drums. This evening they were joined by Jared Yee on sax. His addition really filled out Sungazer’s sound. Sungazer plays a style of music listed as “Electroprog” or “Future Jazz”. One thing is for sure, they are unlike anything you’ve heard. They add a computerized component to their show which gives them a sound of a jazz based 1980’s video game. Their music is a very interesting, backwards looking, but with a forward feeling sound. They were certainly a great choice to open the evening’s festivities.
Moon Hooch is a band that began their musical journey playing on NY City subway platforms in 2010. They drew large crowds causing NY’s finest to bar them from playing in locations that couldn’t handle the fans who showed up. Moon Hooch quickly moved outside of the subway system. They began headlining shows and performing with acts such as Mike Doughty and They Might Be Giants. Since 2011, the band has put out 5 full length releases with their first and last albums being self-released. The middle three were released by Hornblow Records.
Their sound is an amazing blend of 50% Avant-garde jazz with 50% funk. This is interwoven in a 100% punk rock attitude. As with the opening act, their sound is unlike anything you’ve heard! Their line up consists of Mike Wilbur on sax, Wenzl McGowan on sax and James Muschler on drums. The addition of a synthesizer and various electronic wind instruments fills out their huge stage sound. In addition to that, they electronically synthesize their instruments and voices. This gives an ethereal, sometimes eerie, robotic sound to their performance. At one point, Wenzl attaches a dissected traffic cone to his sax to give it a very different sound.
The crowd in Hartford was very receptive to what the band was putting out. The venue was not sold out but it was quite full for a cold midweek night show. Even though there were seats, a vast majority of the audience was on their feet dancing for most of the evening. It seemed like the band drew upon the energy of the crowd and fed it back to them which in turn charged the crowd even more in an unending circle. As the energy built, the performers became more athletic with Wilbur taking to the air in enthusiastic leaps or kneeling on the stage as a soul singer would while belting out a tune from his heart.
As for their latest release, “Life On Other Planets”, it is an album which embodies the sound of a Moon Hooch concert. “We bottled our concert experience and captured it on this album in a way we never have before,” says Wenzl McGowen. “This is the first album where our fans will be able to listen and say, ‘This is exactly what it’s like to see them live.'” The album was recorded in a series of one take performances. There is no studio magic worked into the tracks, merely magical musicianship. If you have seen Moon Hooch live, this is one that will end up on constant replay on your home or car CD player! If you haven’t seen them live, this release will no doubt prompt you do see them!
As said, the tour just kicked off so you’ll have many chances to see them up and down the East Coast of the US. Click here for upcoming dates because you will NOT want to miss this unique band!
