I was a big fan of Dean Wareham’s previous band Galaxie 500, but for some reason Luna’s fifth album is the first time I’ve caught up with Mr. Wareham since G500 split a few years ago.

"Superfreaky Memories" was the song, on one of those free CDs currently sweeping the UK, which attracted my attention. It’s somewhat deceptive, because it’s loaded full of promise yet once you get to know it you still can’t quite pin down why the song manages to be more than the sum of its individual parts. Or maybe you can because it pulls that trick which G500 were so good at - making music which at face value is ordinary indie type pop (Velvets pop song template) but which transcends the basic stereotype with flashes of genius, whether it be by exquisite guitar hooks or vocal melodies. "Superfreaky Memories" is quite wonderful.

Fortunately this is a trick Luna manage to pull throughout this record, because otherwise it would be a distinctly workmanlike album. So songs like "Hello, Little One", "Four Thousand Days" and "Seven Steps to Satan" absolutely soar once the chorus is reached.

Another favourite G500 trick was the obscure cover version - Luna seem to go more for the perverse cover if the version of "Sweet Child O’Mine" is anything to go by, as the G’N’R bluster is replaced by a lament!

It’s a very polite record, the only song to get in the least bit excited is "Math Wiz", which is the album’s most "up" moment with its chiming guitar riff.

The major disappointment however of this album is that it’s FIVE albums on from G500, but this shows no drastic progression from G500’s "This Is Our Music". So boundaries aren’t getting pushed back here.

I used the word "workmanlike" above and that probably sums up the difference between Galaxie 500 and Luna and is the most damning criticism of this record. For me there’s too many superfreaky memories of G500 raising expectations of the wonderful places this record could have gone. Which isn’t to say that this is a bad record by any means. If you like this sort of thing (and I do), this is an enjoyable LP, but somehow some of the mystery seems to have dissipated in the last few years. I can’t say I’m in a hurry to fill in the previous 4 LPs.

[Luna Index]