Moon Hooch - Red Sky

The Guardian 60

(Hornblow)

Former buskers Moon Hooch, dischargers of massive noise and infectious techno-fuelled dance grooves from just two saxes and a drumkit, showed how fast they are building a young international fanbase on their eagerly greeted recent UK tour. The pounding opening title track catches their volatile essence in three-and-a-half minutes (the whole album only runs to 46); That’s What They Say bleats out its catchy hook and churning ostinato over a snorting baritone-sax pulse from Wenzl McGowen; and the the splicing of a fast circular-breathed sax loop into the hooting vamp of the churning Booty House highlights the pace-changing skill that come from their jazz roots. Rough Sex chomps and whirls over a house-bass grunt and drummer James Muschler’s squashy snare pulse, while the anthemic The Thought has a glowing vocal-chorus horn sound. Tenor saxist Mike Wilbur’s slow, ghostly vocal and the rising horn wails of the sleepwalking, Radiohead-like On the Sun show how resourcefully Moon Hooch avoid being just headbangers. Jazz purists might tire of all the pumping and jumping after a bit, but the hooks are good and the all-round raucousness is infectious.