By : Gannopy Urena
5 min read
Massachusetts residents can always count on a local band to deliver some phenomenal rock every person under 35 would have been obsessed with as a teen. Moss Tongue, a band made up of four members from the South Shore, fills that need. Moss Tongue formed in 2019, when they wrote their E.P. “Heaven, You’re Almost Here”, but they weren’t able to release it until November 10th of last year.
The seven track E.P. features loud, impactful, drums, phenomenal vocals, and inspiring guitar bridges. It may be my personal bias talking but this E.P. reminds me a lot of “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” especially with the guitar work. The album is sad, introspective, melancholy, maybe defeated.
The two vocalists in the band work together quite well. Their voices blend together smoothly when they’re both singing. The lead vocalist is proficient in subtle scream singing, balancing the rasp with pretty, round notes that punches the sadness of the songs deeper.
I appreciate the clever word play present throughout the E.P. In the song “So Cold”, “frozen still I sit in my sorrow, my blue lips are too numb to swallow.” In “Too Blue” they sing “settling for comfortably numb and dumb”. My favorite lyrics “why can’t I see the sky, is it too blue for my eyes” are also in “Too Blue.” I honestly don’t know what it means exactly but I deeply relate all the same. The chords in this song remind me a bit of “Sunsets Over Monroeville” by My Chemical Romance.
One of my favorite elements of the album was the white noise and whispering in the final track “Heaven, You’re Almost Here.”, that transitioned into gorgeous guitar based instrumentals. I adore unusual tracks that set the tone for the rest of the album, that help push the listener in a direction of how they’re going to process an album after they’re done listening.
Moss Tongue has performed at a couple of beloved venues, including the Sinclar and O’Briens. They went on their first ever tour in March, where they performed in several towns in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and ended the tour in Boston. The band is currently in the midst of another small tour, which they’ll finish in Allston on July 10th. Moss Tongue started off strong with their first E.P. and I’m excited to see what they’ll do in future projects.
Originally published in-print in Boston Compass Newspaper #148 July 2022
Check out all the art and columns of July's Boston Compass at www.issuu.com/bostoncccompass
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