Album Review: Marisa & The Moths - Marisa & The Moths

Several times this year, I have lamented the obsession with 80s nostalgia our culture seems mired in. That was not my decade (despite arising from it), and why all these bands who are even younger than me seem to love the dated sounds of a decade they never knew is something that baffles me. My musical identity started in the 90s, and if I have nostalgia, that is where it is aimed. So it's refreshing to see a band like Marisa & The Moths come around, a group who claim influence from the era of grunge. I may not have been big into that scene at the time, but it feels far more like home than the 80s do.

To be fair, grunge probably isn't the best touchstone to be pointing towards. Marisa & The Moths are as much indebted to the later 90s alternative scene as anything that came out of Seattle, which works in their favor, since it gives them more colors and textures to play with. The opening "Needy" has the soft/loud dynamics of The Pixies, with Marisa switching between crooning verses and full-throated choruses, with plenty of crunch in the guitars. Actually, the tone she and the band have on their instruments is one of the highlights. It's a perfect amount of crunch without sounding flat, flabby, or fizzy. It rocks.

There are hints at their influences in the writing in addition to the production, such as the way the guitars start and stop in the bridge of "How Did You Get So Weak". It's a throwback to an older version of rock, which just so happened to be a time when rock was actually popular, so ask yourself why so many bands follow the modern blueprint when all it achieves is diminishing returns. There's more life to Marisa & The Moths' songwriting, where the band is able to create a more textured sound than we typically hear today. Having three guitarists allows for detailed playing that fills the space with more than one steady groove. By giving us more than one place to put our focus, it not only invites more listening, but more attentive listening as well. Clever.

From a modern perspective, there are also hints of Halestorm in the band's sound. Marisa's softer vocals have similarities to Lzzy Hale, and combined with the band's intent to deliver rock music with ample hooks, it puts them in good company. Plenty of these songs have strong radio appeal. I can easily hear "Choke" sitting comfortably alongside many of the bigger hits of today. Rock in the mainstream is so cliche that hearing something fresh like this makes you question the taste of the streamers and programmers who have made certain bands I won't name the biggest things going.

What makes Marisa & The Moths so enjoyable is what might make that kind of success more difficult; they don't follow a formula. The songs on this record have ebbs and flows, they balance quiet moments with the rock energy, they require some thought and patience instead of just screaming and trying to dislocate your own neck. As society gets more dumbed-down, I worry there might not be enough room for music that doesn't play to the lowest common denominator.

Being a debut, the band is still coming into their own and finding their sound, but they do an admirable job of establishing themselves with this record. For those of us in our 30s, who live in the middle ground where we aren't modern enough for the current day, and not old enough for nostalgia to be sold to us, Marisa & The Moths are a nice reminder that our youths existed too. Close your eyes and you could be persuaded it was 1998 all over again. And really, given the state of the world, wouldn't that be a nice thing?

Good job Marisa & The Moths.