Customer Reviews

High Ball Me

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Moose are an enigmatic treasure. Their four albums "xyz..." "Honey Bee" "Live A Little Love A Lot" and now "High Ball Me!" (plus an assortment of ep's and compilation tracks) represent one of the finest discographies in the history of popular music, and yet the combination of industry blindness and their inability to self-promote have kept them in cult-status obscurity for the past nine years. That is unlikely to change with the improbable (who among their longtime fans could have expected them to still be making a go of it in the year 2000?) release of "High Ball Me!" even though it's a marvelous collection of intricate songs and subtle soundscapes. Tracks as delicate as "Lily la Tigresse" and "The Only Man in Town" deserve better (as do all of Moose's output from the opening moments of "Jack" in 1991). If you like well-crafted, eccentric, lovingly produced pop music (Pale Fountains, House of Love, Nick Drake, Trash Can Sinatras, Boo Radleys, Pale Saints, Galaxie 500, Shrimp Boat, Felt, Feelies, etc.) Moose will not disappoint. And you'll have their entirely splendid back catalogue to explore once you fall in love with "High Ball Me!"

What a beautiful album this is! If I had read about the different sounds and influences on this recording prior to hearing it, I wouldn't have thought it would work. How in the hell could bongos, goofy organ sounds and spaghetti-western guitar melodies go together with dark and moody British guitar pop? I know it sounds bizarre, but these influences meld together seamlessly on this album.

Moose's "High Ball Me!" simply has to be heard to be believed. Not only for its off-kilter amalgamation of diverse influences, but for the sheer quality of the songwriting contained within. This is pop music of the absolute highest order. Each song on this album has been meticulously and painstakingly crafted with so much love and attention to detail it is staggering. You can tell that the bandmembers of Moose are truly in love with the artistic possibilities of pop music and revel in writing and recording (why else would they continue doing it when obviously no one knows who they are?). It is truly a shame that this album has been completely overlooked by the media and music fans alike (they have no idea what they're missing!).

As far as highlights from the album, I would say the entire album is one long highlight. This is one of those rare records where every track is just as brilliant as the one before it. In fact, I would easily award this record Album of the Year for 2000.

After starting things off with a creepy intro that uses a sample from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", the listener is catapulted into Moose's vision of rock via "Can't Get Enough of You." The track is propelled by some energetic bongo playing, imaginative bass lines, the aforementioned spaghetti-western guitar playing, and probably the creepiest background female singing ever recorded. On top of all of this, we have the main vocalist in Moose, Russell Yates (a deadringer for The House of Love's Guy Chadwick, btw), with a darkly rich and deep voice that carries an ominous flair. Perhaps what is most intriguing of all is how Moose integrates all of these sounds and ideas into a single song and never have it come across as sounding contrived or forced in any way.

The rest of the album is just as brilliant. "Lily La Tigresse" features some truly beautiful melodies via a violin, "Won't Look for Love" demonstrates Moose's appreciation for vintage Felt via some sophisticated and very melodic guitar arpeggios, while "The Only Man in Town" and "There's A Place" show the band at their most tender and emotionally moving.

This is just brilliantly written music any way you look at it. I am so glad that I purchased this (I had never even heard of Moose until summer 2002). I consider myself a richer person for having this CD in my collection.

Recommended for fans of melodic, indie/alt rock such as Belle & Sebastian, The Smiths, House of Love, The Go-Betweens, Felt, Trembling Blue Stars, etc.

Where have Moose been for the last five years?? Well, it seems they felt they didn't have enough schooling in pop music and went back and perfected their craft even more because they have returned with an impressive collection of tracks for this, their fourth proper album. This won't surpass 1995's "Live A Little, Love A Lot", but it does contain some very good songs. The album begins with "A Starting Point", which sounds like it should have been written for a David Lynch dream sequence. Background voices and twangy "old-west" guitars. Then the album takes off with one of the band's best tracks to date - "Can't Get Enough of You". This song uses ghostly operatic background vocals (to great effect) and congo drums, a driving beat and a winning chorus. It's much more aggressive than their usual stuff. "The Only Man In Town" is another winner which could easily have felt home on "Live A Little..." And "Pretend We Never Met" is destined to be a Moose classic - a perfect melody and those wonderful guitars carrying it through all the way. No one writes gentle, sad, beautiful melodies like Moose and "High Ball Me" proves it. There may be only a handful of people who know about this band but Moose's perserverance from their days as one of the ethereal pop bands of the early '90s is unbelievable. Practically all of their peers from that time have faded - Lush, Ride, Chapterhouse, Slowdive, Pale Saints, and most recently Boo Radleys. But Moose remains standing and pop music is the better for it.

After four long years of full-length silence (an ep was released on Saltwater earlier this summer), the ever mighty Moose have returned with another solid tuneful album of unusual rhythms, subtle lyrics, and strange sounds. From the intro "A Starting Point" to the outro "Twelve New Ways To Fly," Moose combine Yates' vulnerable and mellow voice with McKillop's chiming guitars (plus plucked strings, bongos, harpsichord, etc.) to produce a moody forty minutes of pop splendor. "Wonder Where I'll Go" and "Lily la Tigresse" rank among their finest melodies yet, and here's hoping another four years won't have to pass before Moose installment #5...

The previous reviewers said it all. There's a little bit of every thing good in there (execpt really dancy synth-pop or obnoxious hip-hip but that's not relevant in this context). If you like music for the sake of listening then this is a real gem. Lee Hazelwood meets Slowdive (but much cleaner and whimsical than the "Some Velvet Morning" cover). Or a country version of Stereolab minus Tortoise plus the Smiths and Luna (but you don't miss the tortoise hypnosis because the songwriting is so tight and clever.)
Maybe a light hearted "Ecsacty and Wine" era My Bloody Valentine slowed down to half speed with lots and lots of slide guitars, Stephen Heague production, and many thing you won't even notice on the first 30 listens...

Oh, and strings are abound as in all of Moose's wonderful confections...

If you like The Magnetic Fields you are certain to find something interesting here (although it is very different). Also this album has a domestic release so it IS possible to find, but still rare.

It never ceases to amaze me how a wonderful and musically diverse band like Moose is so un-appreciated and sent to the cult status files. I guess in a strange way the band's cult status makes them even more enjoyable for me but take a listen for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

This is the latest and hopefully not the last recording of Moose. This album finds the band at a more mature and refined level, which is to be expected, but all Moose albums even their earlier EPs are treasures in their own right. High Ball Me is a beautiful blend of pop sound that is refreshingly unique. Recommended for those who like the Orchids, Smiths, Mercury Rev, Ocean Blue, Belle and Sebastian and the Trash Can Sinatras.

My god man. This band has always been one of my favorites. They managed to survive the post shoegaze era, rotating members, and long lapses in-between albums. High ball me is good, not as good as "honeybee" or "live a little, love a lot" but still really good, and to think they only took about 6 years to release this! Anyway, I love moose, they can pretty much do whatever they want and it would still be good. Buy this and add it to yer collection. Acoustic guitars chiming away, strange background vocal arrangements (reminds me of catalina island?!) soothing vocals - a moose trademark, and the ever present sweeping melodies that make good pop music great. I wish House of love was still around, then they can hang out with moose and make more beautiful albums, oh well, we still have moose!!!

This album is amazing. I waited a long time for a new Moose Album and it was worth it. Moose has been my favorite band for over 10 years and I do not think another band will ever compare to them. Truly timeless musicians.

Yes they are back and they are just as good as they were when they left us a few years ago. Beautiful guitars, a music with no age, just what we needed ! The fourth album and I hope it won't be the last !