Moneen - 'The Red Tree' (Vagrant) Released 05/06/06

'The Red Tree' is a snappy title for a band that must come up with some of the longest titles since the naming of Welsh mining villages. Case in point - 'There Are A Million Reasons For Why This May Not Work...And Just One Good One For Why It Will'. Moneen have spent some time touring Europe and the UK alongside Muse and Taking Back Sunday'to promote 'Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now', which saw them return to native Toronto, Canada, where the journey that began as a hobby band to touring band to committed artists has been sealed. The earnestness shows through, and the testosterone gusheth forth.

Blood samples of the 4-piece band that revolve about the pivotal Kenny Bridges would reveal the frequent use of vodka/red bull on this listening. Moneen are a message band - "We will burn your ears!" in 44 minutes of cacophony. Much of the album is cranked up to '11', a frenetic workout of tracks bouncing and richocheting off one another like pinball - guitars zipping and wailing, drummer doing his 'Keith Moon' best. 

All cylinders firing and 0-60 in 3 seconds with the opener 'Don't Ever Tell Locke What He Can't Do' which has the guitar flourishes ala Axel Rose, lots of "ahhh's" helping with back-up vocals whilst all and sundry belt it out. The earnest in Kenny's songwriting from the personal to the political is evident, the personal of 'If Tragedy's Appealing, Then Disaster's An Addiction' written like an 'Ode To Failure' - "...anxiety's misleading/ it's kosher/ yet revealing...shine a light down on this...I'm not a failure now...", sure to speak to out to those with exam nerves and to counter parental pressures; the political in evidence on 'The Day No One Needed To Now' - "...these rooftops won't save our lives/ nor did you...everything's alright/ nothing's ok/ we've been lied to...". "There Are A Million Reasons......." shows delicacy from the band in their plaintive fretwork and 'Animal' the drummer light of touch to Kenny's clear vocals - "...this kind of love won't last/ it never did...", with post/adolescent love-angst and lust well-expressed in its confusion, then hey it's lets rip and things get wanged-up in the way the album has been fashioned throughout.

Moneen fly into the face of bands with one word titles. We will smite thee with our titles like short stories. "The Frightening Reality Of The Fact That We Will All Have To Grow Up And Settle Down One Day" reads like a parental discourse on responsibilty, and such is their target audience of collegiate/frat kids and skateboarders, the 'Guns And Roses'/'Red Hot Chilli Peppers' audience. Moneen come over like a shook up tinny of Budweiser, lots of froth proffering, yet still with a crispness and bite in what's left in the tin. Surely to be crowd-surfing these shores soon.