Agony Shorthand


Thursday, February 26, 2004
MODEY LEMON : “PREDATOR” EP….



One of my favorite new bands this past year has been MODEY LEMON, who I’m still in the process of getting acquainted with. At time these guys (a guitar/drums duo – though with the fizzling and loud-ass keyboards they definitely sound like a trio or more) remind me of the 21st-Century cousins of CLAW HAMMER, such is the power and the glory of their feedback-laden, bluesy attack, as well as their vocalist's at times-resemblance to Jon Wahl's unholy yowl. Plus they sound like totally nutso wack jobs in the sense that they’re partial to adding the most inappropriate & out of place Moog sounds to their standard punk/garage/blues, and their eclecticism, while very much rooted in rock (these guys are nothing if not R-O-C-K), is refreshingly bold and surprising at times. Like on this EP, which just came out “in support” of their recent CD “Thunder and Lightning”. Take track #5 of 5, “Black Flamingos”. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more inventive yet unintentional mash than a melding of the dark riffage of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” & the raw white panther power of Claw Hammer’s “Naked”, but these 20-year-olds, they did it. And ditto for the straight-up guitar-solo speedpunk of “Poisonous Ink Clouds” and “Left and Dented”, to say nothing of the two boss tracks from the CD (which I will tackle in a subsequent post). Consider me on this bandwagon in a big way.