REVIEW: Luna, The Days of Our Nights (Jericho)
- Chris Hill
For the first listen, the disc gets skipped to the last track, a cover of Guns 'n' Roses classic, "Sweet Child of Mine". Covering such a well-known song, Luna had to make it their own, or risk ridicule. The immediately recognizable guitar riff remains intact, though Dean Wareham's vocal dissects the wild Axl Rose passion with poised third-person disaffection. This lowers the tempo to a 2 a.m. drivetime sleep-inducer, which, surprisingly, works, and works well.
With their latest, and first for Jericho Records, Luna could have chosen this as their leadoff single. That they didn't, and went with "Dear Diary" displays confidence in their fifth album. Produced by ex-member/producer of Grant Lee Buffalo, Grant Kimble, the album seemed doomed to limbo, after the band was ignominiously dropped by Elektra. Now, signed to Sire-distributed Jericho, The Days of Our Nights finds its release at last.
The band's confidence is justified by the album's depth. The prime-rib-thick guitar of "Seven Steps to Satan", the fuzzed pop "Math Wiz", the string-infused sweetness of "The Rustler", the dreamy diatribe "U.S. Out of My Pants!", the Brian Wilson flavored "Hello, Little One" - twelve substantial songs to reward the patient fans.
The "Why must you be/a mystery to me?" chorus of "Dear Diary" has been echoing in the mental jukebox lately. That's all it takes, sometimes - one lyric that won't go away, one that comes up in odd moments - for a band to firmly synch up with a listener. For others, it might be "I got patches on my eyes/I got pillows on my head/singing "Cha Cha 2000"/I need to get to bed" ("Four Thousand Days") or "a 12 year old math wiz came to me in my sleep/he knew all the answers which he kept to himself/he said, 'I'd hate to be you when the big day comes/the look on your face will be priceless'" ("Math Wiz"). Discover yours in your own time.
The band's official website is http://www.fuzzywuzzy.com/ as it's updated (or promised to be). Or opt for reality, and catch Luna on the second leg of their current tour.
