I first discovered Moo in a bar(Maloe Melo) in Amsterdam. I was there to see another band who they were supporting. As soon as I walked in. I saw some cowboy hats and heard the familiar twang and though. "Oh no… it's a country band". I'm not a big fan of country. I am slowly getting into Johnny Cash via the American Recordings, but in general country doesn't do it for me.
I soon realised, that they had a pretty good energy and that it probably would't be too bad. They must have seen me coming, because the next song they did was the theme from the TV programme Rawhide. I'm sure there is a TV programme called rawhide, but I know it from the Blue Brothers. I'm sold. They clearly have a good enough knowledge of good music to push the boundaries of their three man country punk.
I picked up a copy of their album - Wanted.
Other than one original, the album is made up covers. For the most part these are pretty well known, and many of them were not written for a country three piece.
The band are dublin based but are fronted by charismatic Italian called Claudio Mercante. How he found country or how he ended up in Dublin is a mystery to me. Luckily he sings without a hint of an agent - Irish, Italian or otherwise, so the music remains pure.
The album is very well recorded. No thrills, and it sounds like it could have been recorded just about any time in the past 50 years, if it wasn't for the fact that their are Gnarls Barkley covers on it.
Claudio is ably supported by Darren Flynn on bass, and Art Lorigan on drums. Both perform back up vocals. Darren is full of energy and according to the bands Facebook photos, looks like Jesus with a hangover. I think this is a perfect description, but I've also realised it fits me a little as well. My apologies to Art - he was tucked away in the corner in Amsterdam, so I never saw him. He provided a great backbone and provides a great backbone on the album.
The album never takes itself too seriously, and I think almost everyone will know at least a few songs already. The guitar work is wonderful. The band are by no means a novelty band. The song choice wouldn't include and amazing rendition of 'Lucky' by Radiohead if this were the case. They would have chosen Creep. No that I've heard it I want more. The problem with basing a band on genre is that they have painted themselves into a corner a little. Will an album of original songs be as much fun? Until then, if you are looking for some rocking music for your collection then you could do worse than picking up this album.
The band have their own website.
They can be found on Facebook here
And you can support the boys by buying their album here:
Amazon link
iTunes Link
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