A Place To Bury Strangers
Strange Moon

Before writing this review, I had a doubt that more than a few reviewers never have: "Am I the right person to write this review?" Yes, because this EP of seven songs released just over a month ago, in April 2013, is entirely composed of covers of Dead Moon, historical proponents of a gritty & dirty garage punk that must undoubtedly be among the favorite bands of A Place to Bury Strangers. And I put my hands up, covering my head with ashes: punk is really not my thing, hence my pangs of conscience. But if punk, in general, continues to refuse my attention, the same cannot be said for the genre that A Place to Bury Strangers play. I hope you know what I mean: that "genre" in which they make a lot of noise and a melody composed of romantic songs or, especially in this case, great post-punk influences. Melody that gets buried under noise, waves of feedback, and distortions only to emerge sporadically.

Shoegaze in short. Or noise rock, noise pop, call it what you want; even raggamuffin, brostep, or power metal, the substance doesn't change. And this genre, though I cannot consider myself a deep connoisseur, I like very much. And I like the New Yorkers APtBS; I like them a lot, as we young people say. Once recommended by friends, freshly out of their concert with bleeding ears, it didn't take long for me to understand that they are undoubtedly, for lovers of such sounds, one of the best bands of recent years. I could even say that their "Worship" from last year and especially the excellent "Exploding Head" from 2009 are albums I would recommend to anyone navigating similar musical coordinates.

And I like this "Strange Moon," I like it a lot. The garage punk of Dead Moon is absorbed by APtBS with great skill, without denaturing the original compositions or the classic style of our New Yorkers. The result is twenty minutes of delightful acoustic daze that will not disappoint the discerning listener. And I don't think there's much to say this time either. I admit to having written an introduction longer than the actual review, if you can call it that. In truth, though, it would have sufficed to say "listen to this nasty & mean shoegaze record by one of the best bands of their kind, this time less sad post-punk than usual and more angry punks than usual". It's just that, not loving verbosity, I don't appreciate excessive succinctness either: I like it when you have to search a bit to find the essence of the discourse. Just like when you have to find the melody under so much noise.