The Soft Moon - Total Decay EP

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Press release
Soundclips
Tracklist
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A1 - Repetition
A2 - Alive
B1 - Total Decay
B2 - Visions

Note: videos may not match the album...

5...according to our Brian on Thu 17 Nov, 2011.

I can't believe I've got this guy again, he's by far one of the most exciting artists to ever land on Captured Tracks and now you've a fresh EP opening with a hefty chunk of intense, driving motorik/electronic nu-goth to contend with. I think it's that distinctive sound he's hit upon that drives people wild. I reckon the second track is like a non-excruciating update of early Sisters of Mercy moods without the hilarious stentorian vocals but with that embryonic Cocteaus /Joy Division bass rumbling along, underpinning a murky chiming guitar and a brooding drum machine. It's like an evil 'Marianne' but loads better, not a Leonard Cohen fixation in sight! Luis Vasquez appears to deploy vocals quite sparingly in a snaky mantra-style hiss, comin' across like a blast of air being expelled out of the corner of the song. 'Total Decay' is a brilliantly doom-laden thing indeed; slow percussive gallop; fuzzy, fizzing synths; sheets of cascading black psychedelia and occasional yelps of existential angst. Concluding with the excellent (but far too short) tribal space-techno of 'Visions' this EP neatly represents the vast majority of his cerebral moods and serves as a perfect companion piece to his debut album which we could never, ever keep on our shelves for more than a couple of days. If you liked that I'm afraid you have got to check this beauty out too.....

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Coming up on a year since their debut self titled LP release (one of the best albums of 2010, hands down!), The Soft Moon presents Total Decay, Luis Vasquez continues to conjure a sound fueled tempest that intoxicates with its own post-apocalyptic dust in this new EP! After two stirring 7" releases and the aforementioned debut album, it was apparent that Vasquez was digging his own niche, an intimate well-spoken whisper, carrying a heavy load of synths that creep and drums that command an uncontrollable pull from within. This intimate peak into another world, Vasquez' mind, has garnered a number of comparisons to some of the most iconic and influential bands of the post punk and krautrock movements. Live, the band takes on Justin Anastasi and Damon Way to help transform the listening experience cogently with an array of sound and light effects that translate the energy of the recordings. Total Decay solidifies that the Soft Moon is on its own path, not to be compared. Just listen, hold the shadow of his hand on this journey into the darkness, as he whispers directions through the obstacles, to the light...

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