Dumb & In Luv – Suzi Moon
I was picking up some records at my local record shop and before I left the owner told me to look up Suzi Moon and her latest record Dumb & In Luv. I’d never heard about Suzi before so I gave it a listen on the subway ride back to town and now I want to share my thoughts on her first full-length, released om Pirate Press Records late september.
As the title, and perhaps the artwork as well, hints at, this is a record that thematically deals with different kinds of love. The album starts out with one of the heavier rock-influenced tracks, the title track Dumb & In Luv. I get some Distillers mixed with Social Distortion vibes, although not as rough as Distillers and a bit more leaning towards rock rather than punk. Strangely though, this track is not really indicative of what is being served on the rest of the album. The tempo is drawn back a bit going forward, weaving in some pop-influences into the rock/punk-style.
The theme continues to stick throughout though, whether it’s love for family in the case of Family Memories, a place as in California, or as in I Go Blind, Honey and 99 Miles to Pasadena, people, the lyrics almost exclusively deals with love and relationships as a theme. The track Money goes into another direction, dealing with how money isn’t everything and not wanting to be stuck with a job being treated like shit. It’s never political, but sticks to it’s rock’n’roll roots lyrically, but manages to steer away from being overly cheezy or melodramatic.
Musically it’s well composed and well played, with talented musicians in the band and a solid production, which makes this an album that is really easy to listen to. It might not make you wanna raise your fist in the air or go moshpit crazy, but rather have that driving down US Highway 1 in a convertible heading towards southern California kind of feel. There’s a couple of tracks that might get stuck in your head, my wife has heard me going around humming Ca-la-la-la-la for a couple of days now.
Dumb & In Luv is a solid record, and if you’re a fan of punk-rock that leans a little bit more towards rock these songs from Suzi Moon could very well be down your alley. Thematically not very diverse, but there’s still enough difference between the style and tempo of the songs to keep it interesting all the way through. A pretty pleasant new acquaintance which will keep me humming along for some time.