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"Good luck getting this pop gem from The Moog out of your head."
- ESQUIRE
"With Buzzcocks-sounding intros and fuzzy pop bodies… The Moog have a F*cking star with a capital F in lead singer Tonyo, who struts, preens, and confronts with the best of them."
- TINY MIX TAPES
Hungary has made some notable contributions to the world over the years: goulash, Rubik's Cube, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, among them… but rock music?? That certainly doesn't come to mind-that is, until now. Budapest's THE MOOG blend 60s garage, art and post punk, with immediately catchy pop rock on their second album Razzmatazz Orfeum, out July 21st on MuSick Recordings.
Led by baritone-voiced singer Tonyo Szabo, THE MOOG are an explosive combination of alternative rock and pop influences made unique by the band's catchy Eastern European rock 'n' roll touch. The highly anticipated second album was recorded in Seattle with producer Geoff Ott (Pearl Jam, Queens Of The Stone Age, Mark Lanegan) and offers the listener something quite uncommon in this day and age: the immersion of a total album experience.
Razzmatazz Orfeum is a bold leap ahead of their debut, from the material, the sound, the vibe, and the execution, and it is laced with the undeniable influence of their Hungarian-Gothic folklore. The work is darker and more romantic, and even more intense than their initial offering Sold for Tomorrow.
The first single from Razzmatazz Orfeum will be "You Raised A Vampire" and will be released in colored vinyl 7" with stunning artwork by Gris Grimly (http://www.madcreator.com). The 7" also includes a B-side cover of the Bauhaus classic "The Passion Of Lovers" featuring Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist/vocalist David J, who became a fan of The Moog after seeing them perform in Hollywood in 2008. The video for "You Raised A Vampire," which was shot in Budapest in the historic Gothic building where the first 'Underworld' movie was filmed.
Razzmatazz Orfeum kicks off with the roaring "This Is Horror," its fade-in intro delivered true to the band's name with a swirling vintage Moog synthesizer, before leading into another off-kilter rocker, "Panic," culminating in Tonyo vocalizing his best Cobain. Up next is the album's first single: the wry, catchy dance/goth rocker, "You Raised A Vampire," and the blood-letting doesn't stop as then comes the album's second projected single, the hook-heavy "When I See You." The emotional pull of "Can't Say No, Can't Say Yes" brings to mind Ziggy-era Bowie and Syd-era Floyd; "Lost Day" possesses one of the album's catchiest choruses, while "Joyclad Armies" shows that the band has unmistakable roots in '80s Euro dance-pop-rock. The album wraps up with five tracks that when played back to back show how diverse The Moog is: the mid-tempo "Sphinx" (with its tasty bass lines); the ultra-catchy early 60s/Spector-esque "Make Me Happy;" the synth centerpiece "Self and Soul," featuring Tonyo's surprising falsetto; the progressive goth rocker "Mina," a tribute to Mina Harker and Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', and ending with the piano-heavy and slow burning "Epilogue."
The result is an album that stands way out from the overcrowded alt-rock pack-and the group continues to mature musically at an impressively rapid rate. The Moog will soon receive another huge boost Stateside, when they land on U.S. soil for their fourth American tour in the Fall of '09.
The Moog are expected to tour the U.S., Europe and Japan in 2009 and throughout 2010.
ALBUM TRACKS
- THIS IS HORROR
- PANIC
- YOU RAISED A VAMPIRE
- WHEN I SEE YOU
- CAN'T SAY NO, CAN'T SAY YES
- LOST DAY
- JOYCLAD ARMIES
- SPHINX
- MAKE ME HAPPY
- SELF AND SOUL
- MINA
- EPILOGUE
- DON'T GO (Ramones cover / Bonus track)
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