MORIARTY - Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town

Moriarty is a trans-continental family band of American folk (based in Indiana, but with a European spirit and lineup) that plays predominantly acoustic instruments, and has invented a series of imaginary stories – including about their own biography – to set to music. The group brings together Rosemary's voice, Tom's multi-instrumentalism, the guitars of Charles and Arthur, and Zim's double bass; alongside them (the core members of the project) are drummers Eric Tafani and Vincent Talpaert, recruited for the live set.

"Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town" is the title of the debut album, in essence yet another rediscovery of the crossover between the class of the chansonnier and the dementia of 1960s American underground, but clearly filtered through the standards of 1970s southern sound. The songs on offer range from folk-roots, as in the opening ballad "Jimmy" (updated to Iron&Wine and Calexico), to the brush-and-dobro galop of "Private Lily" (thickened in collective dynamics with a fatalistic, Morricone-like tone), all the way to the tango-as-danse macabre of "Animals Can't Laugh" (preceded by an acoustic recitative), with its swirling accordion and percussive props, and the lean tropicalia ballad "Fireday".

Their personal taste emerges – though not without effort – in tracks like "Tagono-Ura" (the wandering counterpart to "Fireday"), a skeletal slow burner with arpeggio, faint background noises, and vocals in the style of Shivaree, and "Whiteman's Ballad", a graceful rodeo-rock number with fiddle and harmonica, building percussion and a parade of bizarre sounds. "Oshkosh Bend" reproduces the mad pop wanderings of Shapes And Sizes, adding broad vocals and skittish decorative jamming. "Lovelinesse" is a restless, off-kilter waltz that imagines a roots version of Fiery Furnaces, while "Jaywalker" closes the record at the peak of its oddness (typewriter, a horror-movie double bass that blossoms into mocking vaudeville-swing, dissonant disintegrations, a sardonic duet between voice and muted kazoo).

When "dyed-in-the-wool" roots music revisits the genre's lost highways and operates with a loose touch (clowning around, a high level of parody, a high alcohol content, a self-satisfied tone), you can rest easy: the listening experience flows smoothly and with a touch of haughty composure, even through the (deliberate) snags of reactionary dust or conventional detours with which the band catches its breath after so many poetic liberties. The punk iconoclasm of Violent Femmes is sorely missed. The group's multicultural dimension disappoints, barely managing to smudge the melodrama with composed irreverence. It doesn't say much, but it says it with grace and a certain subtlety. The nicknames: "Crimson Diva" (Rosemary), "Kid With the Harmonica" (Tom), "Lord on Guitar" (Charles), "Tchekovian Guitar" (Arthur) and "Professor on Double-Bass" (Zim). There's even a Lynchian shadowy member, with a stuffed animal head, "Gilbert".

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17/12/2007