We all know the band Islands right? They have been inhabiting the Earshot radio charts real estate for the past bit. While the excitement is blossoming, perhaps I should introduce you to the charming side project that frontman Nick Thorburn and acclaimed singer/songwriter Jim Guthrie have put together. It’s named, “Human Highway Stream” and the album “Moody Motorcycle” is available to all of you for FREE! It’s as simple as writing in your web browser : www.myspace.com/humanhighway and then just listening, it’s that easy!
The 12 tracks that make up “Moody Motorcycle” are all brilliantly simple and wonderfully constructed. Light and easy, full of texture and grace, the duo have harked back to old sounds of the 60’s to 80’s with a vacationland-druggy-haze sort of ambiance. The melancholic/alcoholic sweet sing-a-long melodies will make this an instant favorite if you’re one to enjoy this type of somber-pop. Each song has it’s own sense of familiarity, with either gong sounds or hooky motifs that make you wonder if you have heard it before… Lyrics are obscure and intelligent: “ So I lay my head in the washing machine, it felt so good to rub up against the cotton. And cotton only grows where the suffering goes, bottoms up fill the cup and drink it down again. I am counting on you to misinterpret what I say, always fishing for a reason but it’s all swimming away.”
The doubled vocals and production are very retro-sounding, a sound which is also being reinvented in today’s music because yes, synthesizers are back with a force and special mixing techniques give the album an am radio sort of feel. The black sheep song is the CD’s title track and one of the only where the electric guitar takes the front seat. Usually they divulge with rutty sounding guitars, vintage effects and harmonic structures.
The two give you a solid but human sort of performance and the forever friends write on the borders of cutesie and gloomy. To leave you with an example of the overall experience, I will grab one more line: “I would give you the ocean but it would only bring you down.”
