Moon Duo – Shadow Of The Sun

Moon Duo take us back to the year 1972, a time where we find Roger Waters pummelling a gong in the ruins of the lost city of Pompeii. And while '72-era Floyd were at the point where their psychedelic tendencies in the studio were gradually turning into fleshed out prog epics on the stage (see A Saucerful of Secrets and Echoes), Shadow Of The Sun goes further (chronologically speaking) – all the way to 79AD in fact – embracing the subterranean volatility that caused Mount Vesuvius to erupt.

Despite the feeling that anything could happen, the album eschews chaos for structure. The guitars are distorted and the grooves repetitive, but they still carry a sense of propulsion and adventure. The addition of drummer John Jeffery and mix-master Jonas Verwijnen has manifested itself in a danceable, fuzzy freak-out of a record that alternates between the hypnotic Night Beat and the – whisper it – almost poppy Slow Down Low. Anchored in the past, but a welcome evolution.