Moshi Moshi
Pravda, 2020
8/10
A duo comprised of Ryan Smith, who has been handling lead guitar duties in Soul Asylum since 2016, and his wife Pony, who also plays in The Melismastics (as does Ryan), Peter Anderson, of Run Westy Run and The Honeydogs, sits behind the drum kit on these varied tunes from all star line up of Twin Cities rock vets.
“Starry Eyes” opens the listen with plenty of modern indie-rock appeal as much dreamy melody enters the pop friendly setting, and “Start Making Sense” follows with a buzzing approach of stadium rock ideas that flow with power and tunefulness.
At the mid point, “Cinematic” certainly brings soaring female vocals to the club friendly, EDM display, while “First Night” benefits from Pony’s bouncy bass lines as darker textures illustrate much diversity with an anthemic quality. “Low”, an album highlight, then recruits a very stylish and atmospheric delivery of pop and rock ideas that are as timeless as they are memorable.
“Come Find Me” and “I Would Die 4 U” finish off the listen on a high note, where the former takes nods to the ‘80s with playful synth and elegant strings, and the latter finds a firm beat amid a punchy execution in the throbbing Prince cover that we’ve never heard quite like this.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul scene is full of top notch rock bands right, (i.e. Porcupine, The Persian Leaps) and we can certainly add Ryan And Pony to that list as their eclectic and very precise blend of punk, dance, Brit and garage rock make Moshi Moshi a debut worth of plenty of spins.
Travels well with: The Persian Leaps- Smiling Lessons; Sugar Stems- Only Come Out At Night