It’s the autumn of 2019, First Boy On The Moon set out on a journey to create catchy songs and perform live shows and slowly but surely carve out a future. Fronted by singer-songwriter David Pedroza, the quartet is inspired by 80s alternative music with cerebral lyrics, kick-in-the-guts guitars, bass, drums and keyboards. Think the punch of The Stranglers meets The Cure and you’re on your way. The tunes are catchy and often bright. Take the album’s opener ‘Single Mother’, it has that JJ Burnel thump and tone whilst the guitars and keys are not too dissimilar to early Cure, with one eye on creating a pop hit and the other some alternative new wave earworm.

It’s taken 15 months to get to ‘Demons’ from the last album, sure it’s retro, but in a great way, the songs are well crafted and with one eye on being cool and the other on striving to create a sing-along pop tune. ‘That Ship Has Sailed’ has a great tempo and weaves on a synth and guitar lick borrowed from the alt scene who hung out with the punks in CBGB’s back in the day. It’s uncluttered and unfussy, and the songs breathe with traditional instruments, think Icicle Works and Echo and the Bunnymen if you like. The songs could be epic and tell a story. ‘Reach For The Sky’ is a slice of energetic power pop with the emphasis on pop. I’m hearing different things on each play, and parts are pushing to the fore, which is always a good thing. I love the Bass sound and the walks it takes the listener on on tracks like ‘Too Cold In Your House’ and its prominent place in the mix on ‘That-a-Boy’.

The album finishes strongly with ‘Port OF Fire’, in another life would work really well live and on Top Of The Pops or The Tube (remember those shows, kids?) A really cool album with ten well-constructed songs that arch over several genres and decades of Rock n Roll, what I’m trying to say is if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, just keep writing those tunes, and we’ll keep listening to them, and the flame burns bright on this one. Go check out some independent rock n roll music free of all the bullshit and just loving the music.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley