Moneen

SteveK on the Brampton Rockers’ latest

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Moneen: The World I Want to Leave Behind

I listened to this album several times in a row in order to prep for reviewing it.  Yet, despite the marathon listening session, I was honestly just unable to retain, or even really connect with the fourth album from Moneen.  This is unfortunate, because the album follows an obvious theme and when listening to the CD I did find parts of it quite moving; in particular songs like “Great Escape”, “Believe” and “Red Eyes” stood out.

My problem with this balladeering Indie Rock album is that it doesn’t have anything really distinguishing working for it.  This is really surprising, as the band has been around for more than 10 years, and has released some very praiseworthy work, particularly 2006’s ‘The Red Tree’.

‘The World I Want to Leave Behind’ is a contemplative piece, and as part of Moneen’s discography it holds up.  But on its own there is simply nothing distinctive, nothing memorable, and certainly nothing exceptional about it.

Many of CONFRONT’s readers might not be familiar with Moneen; I recommend picking up the aforementioned ‘The Red Tree’ as an intro, and while I recommend ‘The World I Want to Leave Behind’ to Moneen’s seasoned fans, I don’t recommend it as a first taste of their work, if you aren’t familiar with them.

Moneen: The World I Want to Leave Behind

Vagrant Records / Dine Alone

Steve’s Rating: 6/10