Moon Duo are one of the coolest psychedelic rock bands on the planet. Everything about them is just cool. They have a cool name, they have a cool look, their artwork is cool, their taste in other music, art, and films is cool Even their t-shirts are cool! They have a cool vibe, especially when they play live where their light show is really cool and trippy, and most importantly, their music has the coolest sound.
Ripley Johnson is a flat out guitar wizard. His guitar playing and especially his extended solos are mind-blowing and truly psychedelic. He started his space-rock band, Wooden Shjips(yes with a J) in 2006 in San Fransisco, before starting Moon Duo in 2009, they now live in Portland, Oregon. At first it might of been considered a "side project" but now after having released 5 albums and touring quite a bit, it seems at least the equal in terms of output and importance to WS, if not more so at this point.
Sanae Yamada is equally as cool on the synths, creating kaleidoscopic electro-synth soundscapes that perfectly compliment Johnson's playing. She also designs the aforementioned light show at their live gigs which is fantastic. The fact that Johnson and Yamada are husband-and-wife, and seem to be really happy together, only adds to their chemistry as a band. Drummer for hire(that's how he likes it) John Jeffrey keeps the momentum driving forward with the krautrock inspired, motorik beat, in the form of a human drum machine.
In April of 2017(Forever ago...) I was lucky enough to film them in DC. It was a magical show. I used a short clip from this performance at the tail end of my first promo clip for Translove Airwaves, FirstTLATrailer but I've never released this full track clip before. Thanks so much to Moon Duo for letting me film and being so gracious. I can't wait until the next time I'll be able to catch them in person. I know a lot of us feel the same way.
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