Encased in a thunderdome of translucent screens, Moon Duo offers a feast for eyes as well as ears. Here in Paris’ cosy Petit Bain nightclub, the experience for the spectator is less like inspecting an objet d’art carefully placed beneath a protective glass than witnessing a flower bulb unfurl within a pot of jasmine tea.
Projected onto those screens, an elaborate light show of strobing kaleidoscopes and geometric shapes dances in front of the players, while inflating their shadows to ghostly effect. The emphasis on light should not be lost on the observer, for the band’s latest album, Stars Are The Light (Sacred Bones), invites fans into brighter, more luminous tones. Previous releases, especially the two volumes of 2017’s Occult Architecture, were dark, monotone, crunchy dirges bordering on psychedelic goth—but admittedly of breathtaking beauty. And yet if the new LP is sunnier and synthier than anything the group has done before, it is no less trippy.
Guitarist Ripley Johnson’s solos ripple with reverb, providing added bounce to “Flying” and “The World And The Sun.” Johnson and keyboardist Sanae Yamada’s vocals are airy and euphoric throughout. They have crafted a live experience that bubbles with energy and exhales before the coughing sets in.
The group closes the evening with a playful rendition of “Jukebox Babe,” a cover of ’70s synth-punk duo Suicide, the band that provided a template for MD’s sound. A perfectly balanced brew of punk, new wave and psych rock, the Duo is consistently silky where Suicide is occasionally clunky.
Recommended drug pairing: a dose of Lucy dropped into a pot of Oolong.
—Eric Bensel
