What a trip.
So, I’m dyslexic. Really really really dyslexic, and when I hit play on the demo, to be frank, I absolutely shit myself. I fell for your trap Moni Jitchell, I am one of those middle aged dingbats totally fooled by your letter switch. Maybe I need glasses, maybe I need to not be so greedy when I’m selecting what to review, but you got me good. Jokes on you, I much as I love self absorbed megalomaniacal songstresses, I also love whatever you’ve got going on. Short punchy songs, vocals that sound like a teenage temper tantrum, thrashy, trashy, guitars and frantic drums.
Grant Donaldson is the force behind this album; he’s the voice, the drums and the synth. He found inspiration from the works of Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist who explores how children see the world differently to adults. and I found myself wondering if I would benefit from reading some Piaget before I listened to the whole album. Would I appreciate it on a deeper level? Perhaps, but I’ll confess now, I did not, but I do appreciate the deeper meaning under the work being there. The lyrics on this album are very poetic to begin with, and I read the words over and over again, trying to reassure myself that I “got it”, that I understand the point each song was driving at. I think I’m just going to have to re-listen to it a lot, let it steep, see if I ever feel confident in the meaning. The other half of the duo is David Scott, he’s the man on the strings, the guitar, and bass. In the blurb I got with the pack I found it particularly enchanting that he talks about leaving opportunities for the music to be different at each performance. Now that is brave, it leaves the opportunity for a crisis, but also makes live music come alive! That attitude would tempt me to shell out for a ticket to see them live, to know that each session is a little unusual and unique.
Listening to AWARE for the first time reminded me of being a teenager and listening to music in one of my “cool” friends’ bedrooms, she was more plugged into music than me, and she played me Rage Against the Machine for the first time. Whilst I can’t say the sound is identical, the emotions it evokes in me are. The vocals are so hard and driving, they feel like a protest against existence. Like if they could just put a fraction more of their soul into forcing out the words they could blast through reality. Track 5. No Offering spoke to me, the line “Take your turn to mask, what nerves contract to, ‘The emulous passion, something worth having ‘” really intrigued me, I realised I had no idea what emulous was (Desirous of matching or doing better than someone else’s achievements. according to the Collins Dictionary). I read it as feeling forced to perform a competitive nature, as I said before, I don’t know if I’m picking up what they are putting down, but I’m enjoying trying.
The imagery in the lyrics often conjures up religious connotations, “hands clasped“, “holy water falling where no one will stand“, “halos clutched so tall“, it gives the songs an otherworldly vibe that remind me of a Zdzisław Beksiński painting, something that I immensely enjoyed. I absolutely do not think Moni Jitchell will be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking to start your morning with a slug from a bottle of Buckie then this might be for you. Fast, frantic, feral, but loaded with poetry the songs on this album are short and best listened to at full volume. Destroy your eardrums and thank me later.
UPCOMING SHOWS
24 October – Some Great Reward, Glasgow (in-store)
7 November – Leeds, Wharf Chambers
21 November – Aberdeen, Carlton Bar
26 November – Glasgow, The Rum Shack
27 November – Dundee, Art Antics
28 November – Lincoln, Bishops University Union Bar
Moni Jitchell: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bandcamp
Review by Lauren Powell
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