In these days of nonstop in-your-face social outrage, twitter wars and bombast there’s something to be said for quiet and unassuming. That’s exactly how Washington State’s The Moondoggies have been going about things for the better part of a decade now and, if the dark textless cover art for their latest LP A Love Sleeps Deep of a small child digging through a crate of Christmas lights is any indication, it’s business as usual. Their fourth album in ten years A Love Sleeps Deep is miles apart from the band’s earliest incarnation as a teenage high school punk band. Clocking in at just over 44 minutes with an economical 4 tracks per side A Love Sleeps Deep showcases The Moondoggies many subtle talents, from warm taut vocal harmonies to the smooth melodic lines of keyboardist Caleb Quick and pedal steel guitar player Jon Pontrello. Throughout, A Love Sleeps Deep exhibits a certain earthy organic quality akin to early Crazy Horse and the post-psych country rock of the Grateful Dead. Hinting at vintage Harry Nilsson, the piano based balladry of “Promises” helps wind out the record alongside the epic eight-and-a-half-minute album closer “Underground (A Love Sleeps Deep)”, the quieter moments of which are reminiscent of The Buffalo Springfield’s 1967 Neil Young penned “Broken Arrow”. Absolute Americana, a kinder gentler Drive-By Truckers without the Southern Gothic.
Rating: 7/10
Star Rating: 3.5/5
2018 Song Of The Day Club Album Review 20/52