My Review: GRMLN - Dark Moon

 GRMLN - Dark Moon

United States and Australia, Korea and Japan.

All of this is about one artist, Yoodoo Park, a talent and star who has just released Dark Moon, by which the old scribe was struck. It may be because of a melodic quest that goes well with the softness of Dreampop with a modern and fresh aspect, rounded off by a shoegaze-skinned reverb with regard to vocals. Fast arpeggios over stop-and-go rhythms make the guitars twin sisters that vibrate and move back in time, to Sheffield and London, the two British cities that began to shift borders in the mid-1980s, reaching all over the world. Yoodoo alternates pure alternative gems with a rock attitude lightened by all gravity, to combine with Dreampop: multiple and generous mixtures that perfectly explain the stylistic signature of these short nine compositions. They never exceed four minutes, because within them, amidst the diverse variants and multifaceted scenic installations, you have an already generous overview to listen to. Artistic acts such as Fevers wink at echoes of the alternative music of the 90s, making Dreampop absent. With Phase I we enter the fresh air of currents of the never forgotten Blueboys of Sarah Records. From the very first notes of Dark Moon, the song that opens the album, everything is clear: they will be timeless spaces, which will not create nostalgia but will always sound young, current, effective. It is, however, with Beauty that the heart leaps to its feet and applauds: amidst hints of the 70s and the frost on the guitars, vocals conquers and the stars that seem to come out of the fingertips of the talent now living in Australia are embraced. And they are foaming waves of that beautiful country gliding through the seconds of a catchy track. If you want mystery, chorus and a stadium emotion, here is the gigantic New Human, which sounds like a grandchild of The Smiths in certain guitar phrasings, but careful not to be a vulgar imitation. 

With a production designed to make the album feel like a compact musical concept, with a thousand ramifications but with the undeniable merit of not falling into the temptation of a dangerous lack of style, one finds oneself looking at updated musical genres and their need to embrace and contaminate. 

In just over twenty-three minutes, you will travel through a sound passage that you will want to listen to again: after all, it is nothing but a metaphor for modern life, which needs things fast so as not to burden your attention span. And the result is pleasant, recommended for dreamers...

Alex Dematteis

Musicshockworld

Salford

9th January 2023

https://grmln.bandcamp.com/album/dark-moon-

2

https://open.spotify.com/album/0xBUPE1W2vx1LAuDwzrhw0?si=jdY3dCh8Tx6PnLsEUPt97Q