Photo: Press
Here is what The Moondlandingz’s (apologies for the awkward pronunciation) Adrian Flanagan has to say about ‘The Strangle of Anna’, their new drone-and-reverb-drenched single:
“We wrote the song from the viewpoint of the girlfriend of some clichéd, self absorbed, pound-shop indie Lou Reed wannabe, who plays in some Velvets/ Mary chain-esque shoddy local band. You know the type , sociopathic skinny boys in leather jackets and winkle pickers, with cry baby, light weight, borderline drug problem - and with egos that far outweighs their talent for playing the chords, C, F and G through a fuzz guitar pedal, drenched in reverb.”
Early estimates indicate that 30% of readers just winced, to varying degrees, with self-recognition.
This is the first taste of what may or may not be their debut album, Interplanetary Class Classics, which is slated for release in the middle of next month. Whether or not this counts as their debut proper, though, is as confusing as a Pep Guardiola Manchester City formation, so shrouded in mythical narrative are the band.
The singer, Johnny Rocket (fake name), is the alter ego of Lias Saoudi (real) of Fat White Family (real). He formed The Moonlandingz (real band at this point) with Flanagan and Dean Honer (real names), whose project The Eccocentric Research Council (fake council, sort of real band) in 2015, put out the album Johnny Rocket, Narcissist and Music Machine ... I'm Your Biggest Fan (real album). That album dealt with an episode in which Rocket (then a fictional character with no corporeal form), the frontman of The Moonlandingz (back then a fictional band), was stalked (FAKE NEWS) by Maxine Peake (either a fictional character with a coincidental name or a fictionalised version of the Shameless actor). There are guest turns too, from Sean Lennon (real) on drums and bass, plus Slow Club (real) singer Rebecca Taylor (we are at last firmly entrenched in reality), the latter of whom provides a sultry, hypnotising Rachel Goswell-esque vocal to give ‘The Strangle of Anna’ something of a Twin Peaks vibe.
Confused? Excellent. In a similar vein to Fat Whites, The Moonlandingz have a socially conscious message, which they are more than happy to hammer home through the smoke and mirrors. Flanagan clarifies matters:
“I'm just sick of turning up at venues and only seeing a bunch of twanging male brats bounding around a stage like Timmy bloody Mallet with a stratocaster, followed by another bunch of slightly moodier male brats. It's almost like promoters only see women as worshipping ‘boys in bands’ and no one wants to actually hear or see women on the stage. So as well as Goat Girl (playing all dates), we will be letting other girl groups or female fronted artists, local to the city we play, open the show for us!
“We've been getting a bunch of male indie bands complaining how it's ‘not fair’ that we are only giving support slots to women in bands, but I guess it's a swift & bitter lesson in what it has been like, being a woman in music over the past 50 years!”
With any luck, that clears things up. Tour dates, for what promises to be an entertaining show, are below. Keep an eye out for tickets here.
March
22 Newcastle Cluny
23 Glasgow Stereo
24 Dublin Whelans
25 Liverpool Invisible Wind Factory
28 Birmingham Hare & Hounds
29 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
30 Manchester Gorilla
April
1 Sheffield Leadmill
2 Bristol Thekla
3 Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
4 London Village Underground
