There’s scope and fragility on display on Monoganon’s second album, Family, that given the scarcity of genuinely affecting music nowadays should elevate Monoganon and main man, John B. McKenna to the highest ranks of Scotland’s gifted breed of songwriters.
With more than a nod to alternative-American rocker’s Grandaddy – most prominently so on the crunchy, ‘All You Need To Know Is Now’ – there’s a woozy, in-no-rush feel to Family, but it never feels absent minded. Far from it, songs like ‘Arc of the Tuna Fish’, album closer ‘Ivory and Tusk’ and recent single ‘Wasted Teens’, may at first appear to meander, but there’s a depth and serenity that hum melodiously on repeat plays.
If the lyrics are often obscured by swathes of reverb – glorious rocker ‘Best Pals’ being the main offender here – then it only lends itself to the ghostly, fuzzy goo that is spread thick across the whole record. That goo may be too sour for some but the sweetness most definitely lies within.
Family is available via the Lost Map website
- Monoganon - 28 October 2013
- Randan Discotheque - 1 February 2013
- The Voluntary Butler Scheme - 4 August 2011
@isthismusic @monoganon cheers! xx