Moly - Expressing Contempt, Scorn Or Disgrace
by Jon Rogers
published: 23 / 5 / 2003
Label:
Tenor Vossa
Format: CD
intro
Brooding, competent, but over Mogwai-fixated debut EP from new British post-rock group, Moly
A four track EP that places Moly wholeheartedly in the genre that has become known as post-rock and been exemplified by Mogwai. Brooding, meandering guitars float along creating eerie space-drone ambiences, before slowly crescendoing in a haze of frantic guitar historonics and white heat. Usually stretched out in 10-minute plus instrumentals. And Moly don't fail to deliver on that. 'Do Well Doubt Not' typifies this stance. A grand expressionistic sculpture of sound that starts of with timid chisels into the block of stone, which gains more confidence with each stroke before ultimately getting carried away in a frenzy. The overbearing sense of loss - in Lacanian terminology - prevails. Ultimately, that's where this 30-minute EP trips up: what it lacks. It's a fine exponent of post-rock but is limited to being confined within the boundaries of the genre. It offers nothing new. Moly offer nothing different from the likes of Mogwai. Moly need to find an identity of their own; their own voice. If the band are going to play around with Lyotardian notions of postmodernism they need to drop designs of "the grand narratives" already documented by others and find their own individual colours. Probably though that can be used as a critique of post-rock generally. Ultimately it can be seen as music that emphasizes surface not depth - as did ambient which post-rock draws heavily upon. It goes beyond the manifest to what is latent, unspoken. Then again it also has those postmodern hallmarks of self-referentiality, quotation as well as pastiche. Then again, you can over-play your hand. 'Expressing Scorn Contempt or Disgrace' is a fine place to start though - if you've never heard of Mogwai.
Track Listing:-
1 Me And Lucifer (Radio Edit)2 Do Well Doubt Not
3 Wherever We Stand People Always Make A Pathway Between Us
4 Me and Lucifer (proper version)
Label Links:-
http://www.tenorvossa.co.uk/
interviews |
Interview (2003) |
Guildford post-rock Moly have recently released a an EP and an album. They talk to Olga Sladeckova about their first four years together, and why they think vocals are boring |
live reviews |
Islington Academy Bar, London, 15/8/2005 |
Olga Sladeckova almost becomes lost while looking for the elusive Islington Academy Bar, but when she finally gets there is enthralled by a stunning set from Guildford-based instrumental post rockers Moly |
reviews |
Hello Shut Up (2006) |
Appealing, largely instrumental third album from Guildford-based post rockers, Moly |
It Rained, But We Cheered (2004) |
Your Life In In Danger (2003) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
James Whild Lea - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Banter - Heroes
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart