Moa Moa – Serpentine EP
No more Austin Psych Fest reviews because I only went the first day.* Let’s change it up! Here we have the Serpentine EP by Austin-based minimalist psych duo Moa Moa. Man, am I on top of my shit—they released their EP on Bandcamp yesterday! I’m so good. I’m the next Anderson Cooper. Plop me in a warzone and watch me be dreamy.
Sorry, I’m sick and loopy on meds.
Anyway, Moa Moa burns through a surprisingly eclectic array of druggy, distended psychedelic moods across Serpentine’s six brief tracks, ranging from “Charlie,” a blessedly trashy and hard-charging slice of garage punk, to “Seachild,” a scraping, seesawing dirge. The EP’s closing song, “Morning/Onfire,” is particularly impressive, opening with an eerie flute-and-drum drone reminiscent of Fursaxa before abruptly veering into a sweet acoustic duet recalling Sleepy Sun’s more bucolic moments. Yum.
Ryan and Leah—Moa Moa’s principals—treat negative space with respect, letting each dissipated note and wasted boy/girl harmony stretch out into tiny infinities. Despite this, they manage to do a lot with very little, repeatedly combining the same ingredients—cavernous effects, a hollowed-out and tinny guitar tone, and some supremely seductive singing—into diverse and delicious psychedelic confections.
Serpentine is a quick, sweet hit, and I hope to hear Moa Moa stretch out onstage in Austin sometime soon. You can listen to the EP here.
*More on that later, perhaps. Perhaps not. In case I never get to it, I’ll just say there needed to be more Moa Moas roaming around and fewer Places to Bury Strangers there.
