Lab Partners

Moonlight Music

Pravda

May 02, 2010 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis Bookmark and Share


For those who pine for the heyday of shoegaze glory, the dosed spring still flows freely in Dayton, Ohio. Lab Partners have been at it since 1998, long enough to have actually started back when the vapor trails of their antecedents were ruptured but still visible, and their third album, Moonlight Music, plays like a connection to the original bloodline. 

Singer/guitarist Mike Smith and guitarist Mike Volk dig deep for a healthy range of sounds, from acoustic strums to fuzzy chords to precision leads and even some sitar, enabling them to take some songs into spacey territory while echoing trippy '60s pop on others. Drummer Kevin Vaughn keeps things nicely fluid, while Amy Smith plays keyboards that sub for bass by exploring the low end of their sound while otherwise adding extra dimension to the guitar layers.

It's easy to play connect-the-dots here, as flashes of such bands as My Bloody Valentine and Spiritualized surface and fade. None of that would matter, however, if Moonlight Music didn't contain a group of memorable songs that enabled its makers to establish an interstellar outpost all their own. (www.labpartners.net)

Author rating: 6/10

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Average reader rating: 9/10

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leslie
May 3rd 2010
9:26am

not as good as their ealier albums, tends to drag towards the end.

seattlesun
May 5th 2010
11:53am

I agree, this isn’t like the old lab partners. tends to sound more metal than shoegaze. becomes redundant and boring. oh well, another 15 bucks wasted

dave
May 6th 2010
4:17pm

reminds me more of daystar. i’d agree it rocks more like the verve or swervedriver instead of mbv.

Ashen32
May 6th 2010
6:14pm

Brilliant!!!

K28linden
May 7th 2010
7:27am

Cool stuff!

drougan
May 7th 2010
9:33am

Great review of a great band!

s.jman23
June 28th 2011
7:14am

Why am I just learning about these guys? Love it!

kevin
October 4th 2011
9:08am

sucks

Stan
October 31st 2011
8:24am

Uh, Kevin is not happy! LOL

I dig the Lab Partners.