Moist
Creature
EMI

While Creature, Moist's second album, may seem alien at first it only takes a good listen to see the Moist in it. The intense, dark, seductive, rock that made Moist's first album Silver such a huge success comes shining through with new vitality on Creature. Creature clearly demonstrates some massive improvements in the production of the album, as well as some broadened musical horizons. The added use of trumpets and cello on some of the tracks shows a more eclectic composition that is well blended with the new instruments to emphasize the mood of the song without distracting the listener from it. The production of the album is far cleaner than on Silver, with Producer Paul Northfield allowing the most delicate elements to ring though like bells and the most vicious to crack like thunder. Northfield's production compliments beautifully Moist's broadened dynamic range. Tracks don't have to be just soft or just pulsating anymore, Moist has learned to combine the two and create a contrast within the songs. Most of the tracks on Creature have intriguing dynamic buildups that are somewhat lacking on Silver. This is best demonstrated in the new single Leave It Alone. Another huge difference on Creature, is the overall pace of the album. Creature has a lilt, almost a pulse that connects all the songs. This pulse is much faster than Silver which has a looser, almost fluid heartbeat. This new album is considerably less crude than Silver, but when you loose the roughness that Silver embraced so beautifully, a little piece of the music dies, a little piece, that played a big part in Moist's success.

Moist are currently touring Canada with Neil Young.

Copyright © 1996 Laura Bowman