Dead Moon

Echoes of the Past

(Sub Pop)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

Lo-fi rock lovers who have not previously been exposed to Dead Moon should have their minds melted by Echoes of the Past, a sensationally generous 49-track (!) collection from 1988-2004.  In terms of DIY ethic, Dead Moon are the Fugazi of the Pacific Northwest.  They have released a rather prolific number of albums on their own label, and count Eddie Vedder and Cat Power among their fans.  Inevitably, they found bigger audiences overseas, and their material was often hard to find, particularly pre-Internet.  But now, with the help of Sub Pop, nobody has any excuses for having never had a “Dead Moon Night.” 

Dead Moon know who they are and what they want to be, and that’s especially true on Echoes of the Past; frontman Fred Cole complied the tracks himself, so it’s a selective history from the source.  Tense is important; this isn’t a retrospective or memorial for a dead band.  The two discs are arranged chronologically, more or less, and if held at gunpoint and forced to choose between the two—hey, in this sick world, anything is possible—most listeners would probably choose the first disc, which has a number of tracks that would qualify as definitive:  “Evil Eye,” “DOA,” “54/40 or Fight.”  But there hasn’t been much letup in quality or sheer blissful rock spirit, both of which are on abundant display on Echoes of the Past.

Fred Cole, it should be noted, has been in and out of the biz since 1964, and he and bassist/sometime-singer Toody Cole have been married since 1967.  So on top of the Fugazi DIY parallel, they are also the Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward of scuzzy underground rock and roll.  That’s a welcome example for the myriad married couples sprouting up and fronting bands together.

Maybe it’s projection, but Echoes of the Past seems to have a lot to do with survival—if not in theme, then at least in tone.  For its intermittent angst and doubt, there is also a lot of optimism, and the power-chorded rock and roll is mighty durable.  A few songs coast on little more than personality and lo-fi likeability, but the bulk of the 49 tracks are memorable for surprisingly catchy refrains and simple but highly effective and nonrepetitive riffs.

“54/40 or Fight” is presented as a live track, and on it the band roars with just the right mixture of exuberance and precision.  There is a live wire element to Dead Moon that is drawn out, like you could imagine them packing up abruptly and leaving stage, but you could just as easily imagine them playing for hours on end, then hanging out afterward to chat.  In the latter scenario, the listener would be well advised to pull up a barstool; Dead Moon surely have some killer stories to tell.