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Acid Fast

Rabid Moon

Written by: PP on 03/02/2014 18:54:49

Vibrant, fuzzy alternative rock 90s style is making a huge comeback these days with plenty of bands following in the footsteps of Superchunk and others like them. One of them is Acid Fast from Oakland, whose debut album "Rabid Moon" has pretty much everything any fan of reverberant guitar melodies could desire for. It's full of bright melodies that resonate warmth and joy of playing every step of the way, and it's dressed in a purposefully garage-style production that leaves the vocals nicely distorted along the way.

Where Superchunk toyed with alternative rock on their albums, Acid Fast goes the opposite way and paints their expression in punk rock flavors. More often than not your thoughts are drawn towards a fuzzier version of Bomb The Music Industry!, especially during the male vocals because of the way the distortion leaves them crackling in the mix. Though not as experimental in its nature, Acid Fast's music has similar tendencies, and can of course also be compared to their like-minded peers Tenement, who have been causing quite a buzz in the punk scenes in the last few years. The difference here is the inclusion of female vocals as the dueling element to the male ones, though both are distorted and fuzzy in their nature for the maximum amount of sparkling, vibrant melody.

The songs are also uptempo (given that this is essentially a punk record, after all) so pretty much all of "Rabid Moon" feels like it has a nice amount of energy to it. It's easy to nod along and lose yourself into their vivid melodies, even though the band would do themselves many favors if they were able to write songs that were more memorable as individual instances. Instead, you're left with a warm feeling of a buzzing sound, but a lack of memory of individual songs from the album.

Download: New Paradigm Mind Reading Co., Rupert,
For the fans of: Bomb The Music Industry!, Superchunk, Tenement, Lawnmower
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 07.01.2014
Protagonist Music