Former Trailer Bride frontwoman Melissa Swingle's new duo is much speedier and blunter than her old band — all distortion, bent notes and swaggering bashes. Her songs have faint but definite roots in the folk-blues tradition: "Paradise Club" is a blood relative of "House of the Rising Sun."
There is something about the lead vocalist's drawl that pulls me into whatever story is happening in the song. This duo stands on it's own, no comparisons necessary...give it a listen! Personal favorite track on this album 'Secret Joy'.
Stumbled across The Moaners courtesy of a Yeproc mailing list. As a huge Kristin Hersh fan I am always willing to give female songwriters a fair listen, often only to be disappointed. Not this time, Melissa Swingle has a wonderfully dislocated vocal style, and the heavy bluesy riffs are underscored by Laura King's solid drumming. I hate comparisons(lazy journalism) , but when they are the likes of Polly Harvey, Kim Deal, and The White Stripes(inevitably) how can you not give them a little of your time? Wicked.
Reminds me of Pavement. If malkmus was a chick.
WOAH! I just listend to the moaners... man those guys rock. I first heard them today when I was trying to find a new fun band but then I came across these guys. Ya know what I did, I downloaded the whole album listening to each song! This is the first band that I liked so much that I wanted every song on the album. Really I think if more people heard of them they would rocket to the top of the charts. They should keep doin what their doin and I think they will go far.
