Mass Movement of the Moth, who hailed from both Richmond and DC at various points in their career, existed from 2004 until 2007, and featured members that would later go on to play in Antlers, VCR, Des Ark, and Circle Takes The Square. When they were around, they had some buzz, but never quite got the recognition they deserved. Perhaps that was due to people's inability to categorize them. Moth's music could be called complex, progressive hardcore, or harsh, psychedelic indie rock, or maybe even the dreaded seven-letter "s" word ("screamo"--I hate that word). Lately it seems like their music is slipping out of the cultural memory, but hopefully that trend can be reversed with the creation of a new website that offers, for free download, everything Moth ever released (and even some things that they didn't).
If you've never checked out Mass Movement of the Moth before, the best place to start with their music is their full-length album Outer Space. It displays the full range of the Moth sound, from the heavy weirdness of "Riddle Me 666," to the simmering creepiness of "Ous We Are," to the extended psychedelic coda that ends album closer "Crime"--always a personal favorite. The band rerecorded their song "Seven" for Outer Space, but I was always thought that the definitive version of that song was the version recorded for their split EP with Polar. That EP is also here, so you can grab both versions of "Seven" and do your own comparing and contrasting. (More detailed commentary on the Mass Movement Of The Moth discography after the jump.)
Of course, the real bonanza of comparing and contrasting to be done involves Moth's debut EP, which they recorded and released in three separate versions over the course of their career. The original recording was entitled Finally, and was self-released on CD-R in 2004. Two years later, a rerecording, generally acknowledged as the superior of the two versions, was released as a 10 inch EP by Alone Records, under the name Finale. But somewhere between these two releases was a third version, a cassette called Funally. Funally was a bizarre mishmash of remixes by band members and friends of the band, as well as four-track solo demos recorded by bassist Christian Brady, live tracks, and even a mash-up featuring sounds lifted from video games and Gorilla Biscuits records. This version of the EP might not bear as many repeated listens as the majority of Moth's catalog, but it's an entertaining trip if nothing else.
Furthermore, it's not just entertaining but refreshing to finally be able to hear Moth's contributions to their split LP with The Catalyst, Two Thousand Six Six Six, separately from The Catalyst's songs. I understand that when the two bands decided to have their split LP alternate from song to song between the two bands rather than segregating each band to a separate side of the record, it was a gesture of togetherness and cameraderie. However, actual listens to the LP, with its jarring transitions, were sometimes hard to endure. The Catalyst remedied this problem, at least where their side of the LP was concerned, years ago, with the release of their Marianas Trench plus 9 CD. It included their tracks from Two Thousand Six Six Six one after another, the way they are best heard. Now, at long last, the same thing has been done for Moth's tracks. They hang together incredibly well as a five-song EP, especially in light of the fact that this gives their epic instrumental track, "Lightning," its proper place at the end of the record (the transition from that song to The Catalyst's final song was always the most uncomfortable transition on Two Thousand Six Six Six). "Lightning" is like a great lost Jan Hammer 80s instrumental TV show theme song from an alternate universe, and if there were any justice in the world at all, it would have been a Top Ten hit single. If you only listen to one song by Mass Movement Of The Moth (to be clear, I am NOT recommending this course of action), please make it this one. Once it's in your record collection, you won't know how you ever survived without it.
Even for longtime fans of the band who have collected all of their previously released recordings, this new website offers some gems. An 11-song compilation called Beyond collects numerous unreleased Moth recordings, and while a lot of what's on it is relatively lo-fi, there are some gems to be had. In the explanatory notes for Beyond, we are told that the five-song live acoustic performance that makes up the majority of the compilation's running time was planned for release, but ultimately went unused due to the cymbals being too high in the mix. And there's a lot of truth to that--at points during the recording, cymbals drown out almost everything else. However, between the acoustic instruments in use (keyboardist Adam Lake appears to be playing accordion, xylophone, and maybe even a toy piano at various points) and the muddiness of the recording, "Crime" becomes a nearly opaque tribal jam, especially during its long ending section. Meanwhile, the set's final song, "The Trickery Of Tom Sawyer," turns into a huge noise overload, ending with an extended bout of screaming, howling, and crashing cymbals. The result is both nigh-unintelligible and totally transcendent.
Elsewhere on Beyond, the band's two unreleased final songs both make long-belated appearances. "Twenty One" is a jambox recording from a practice, and if it does have vocals, they are inaudible. It still sounds really good, though, and I can't help but think that, with a proper recording, it would have been amazing. The 20-second "Twenty" is present in two versions--an unfinished studio recording and a solo demo created by Adam Lake on Fruityloops. The liner notes create the impression that the studio version should have had vocals and instrumental overdubs added, in order to be a properly finished track, but it works quite well as a bare-bones instrumental. Then there's some flat-out goofy shit, like the "Tofu Hoagie" impromptu jam, which was probably fun to record, but... well, let's just say I'm glad it's less than two minutes long. And then there's "Molar Jam," a collaboration between Mass Movement Of The Moth and Polar originally intended for the split EP between those two groups. Based on the results, this idea was probably better left on the cutting room floor, but it's an interesting document of the creative process, if nothing else.
Ultimately, though, the important thing here is the opportunity for unfamiliar listener's to check out Moth's best work. Outer Space, Finale, and their contributions to the splits with Polar and The Catalyst are all essential, and it would be a shame if they went unheard. Check them out, and if you like what you hear, Moth's former label Exotic Fever still have several of their records available for purchase. Trust me--you don't want to miss out on one of the best bands to come out of Virginia in the past decade.