Out of the mists of time comes a new release of old recordings by a nonexistent band. Late last century, our hero, METALMOOOSE (a.k.a. Gregory Hall) severed a major label deal due to irreconcilable creative differences and concocted the record he wanted to make using new and old 4-track cassette demos.  It was a means of exorcising demons before galloping off to pursue a Doctorate in Pataphysics. Several passports later, these long lost tapes were rediscovered during a pandemically induced deep clean and integrated into our digital realm; the past coming out from inner space.

I know, WTF is with the name?  METALMOOOSE = the metal sheen of Randy Rhoads + the moose muscle of Bob Mould ÷ the skewed pop of Cheap Trick.  An admittedly lo-fi affair, these recordings were made in a small apartment with a sense of goofy adventure but remarkably little gear. It is mostly a lumbering beast stomping around the woods searching for meaning, but there are also moments of gentle introspection. While the guitar overdubs pile up like shiny Japanese Beetles in a trap jar in a garden, a guitar army marching to a militant drum machine beat and thumping bass, interspersed amongst this electric mayhem are acoustic songs, spontaneously written as they were recorded while floating away on a cloud of morning bong hits.  Speaking of weed, the songs are colored with various sound effects, snatched from a live TV broadcast, a tape of cool sound effects, a tape of Dylan Thomas reading his poetry; a budget Bob Ezrin homage; a bedroom symphony for dogs. So roll up and enjoy the fifth release from Boston oddball indie upstart label Secret Candy Rock Records, a long lost epic is finally revealed. Moose art by Norval Morrisseau

Gregory Hall 8 is following