Original Release Date: March 5, 1996
Label: No. 6 / Number Six

• Composer
• Guitars
• Producer

Description: So how are my two favorite low-key Sterling Morrison–inspired strum bands doing these days? Luna continue to astound me with their utter rightness, and with each new release from them I repent again for having dismissed Galaxie 500 so harshly. (It’s not like I didn’t have a chance to give them a fair hearing–my band opened for them once.) This EP comprises the Dream Syndicate-flavored Penthouse track “Sideshow by the Seashore,” accompanied by five new songs. The now-traditional tribute to Luna’s early New York heroes is a neat version of Talking Heads’ “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel” done in the style of the Feelies circa Crazy Rhythms. Also covered is “No Regrets,” a Tom Rush folk-pop ballad that ends the EP with a smear of Left Banke cellos. As for the new originals, “The Moviegoer” is a wry raga-rock vignette that rises and falls with swell psychedelic guitars and organ. “It’s Bringing You Down” is a twangy waltz with a whammybar-dominated lead guitar that never shuts up but sounds so good you don’t want it to (think Jorma Kaukonen on After Bathing at Baxter’s). “The Enabler” is an exquisite, spontaneous-sounding instrumental that rides one chord to a swaying, nodding rhythm as guitars surge forward and drums drag softly, broken up by a gently floating three-chord bridge. Why do I never tire of music like this? John Lee Hooker fans must feel the same. –J Neo, Puncture

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