Moonraker

“So Much Fun is about as good of a band name as you could ask for. Who doesn’t like fun' And it’s a good reminder: while the music on the album can sound cosmically epic at times, it never crosses that line of taking itself too seriously. With song titles like “Lady Captain” and “Once a Month Altruist,” it seems pretty clear the band wants you to keep at least a little bit of your tongue planted in your check. The album title, Moonraker, is one of the Roger Moore James Bond movies, back when James Bond movies made you laugh at how goofy they were. I’ll cross my fingers for “The Ballad of Hugo Drax” on So Much Fun’s follow-up.”

“Moonraker” is a sonically dense album. There’s a lot of attention to tone and arrangement going on throughout, and lush textures abound, but there’s also a lot of drive and groove propelling the tunes. Bassist Nate Looker and drummer PJ McManus keep it moving, even during the most ambient sections, just on the fringes of trip-hop, but with more syncopation. You often can’t tell if a sound is a synthesizer or treated guitars, which is very cool – it just melts together. Like space-cheese.”

- amesprogressive.org