Contemporary folk with a little Americana thrown in the mix is how the PR people describe The Moonband and I wouldn't be the person to argue with that. A quick glimpse at the picture on the biog, seeing the band wearing metallic jumpsuits and round goldfish bowls over their heads, I guess at least the band have a sense of humour about it all even if it's not reflected in their acoustic ramblings.

Some of the music on offer is fine for what it is but thirteen tracks that never seem to get out of the rocking chair on the porch is a lot to take especially when the opening track about an alcoholic, a workaholic and a suicide just about sets the tone and seems to go on forever. There are, however, a few bright moments on offer even if the six minutes spent on 'Devil's Got A Piece Of Us' isn't one of them. The acoustics sound nice like a San Francisco morning back in the late 60's kinda way but alas we're in 2011 and things have moved on. 'Roll On Blues' is about as good as it gets, with the dual delivery of Eugen and Katrin, even if the explanation is Newton explores the calming effect of acceleration! Oh really? Thanks for that guys, I'd never have thought of that. 

Clocking in at almost an hour this is a lot of music and, with it generally being one pace, is just too much for this scribe to take. Dipping in here and there was fine. 'We Don't Care' is decent as is 'No Direction Home' and 'The Hiker' is a decent folk tale but clocking in at over seven minutes is toooooo long. Songs about sunrise in space and love stumbling across a stone and astronauts playing tricks on their daily routine has overwhelmed me and besides I'm still haunted by that promo pic of the metallic spacesuits and goldfish bowls. Had they introduced electricity and some drums there might have been a lot more life in some of these songs but then I guess if it was recorded out in space then where were they going to plug in the amps? These are the questions I guess I'm going to have to ponder as the folk drifts on by in a rather forgettable way. They must lay claim to the first band on Uber Rock to feature a glockenspiel player though, which is nice!

www.myspace.com/themoonbandinspace