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Echoes of the Past

Dead Moon
Sub Pop Records

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Dead Moon - Echoes of the Past If you're a band that books your own tours, cuts your own vinyl-only releases (on the same machine that cut The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie," no less) and pretty much tackles everything with a gung-ho do-it-yourself attitude, that's one thing. To do it for 19 years and survive to tell about it, that's another thing altogether.

On Echoes of the Past, Sub Pop cherry-picks the highlights from Dead Moon's expansive back catalog, a 12-album collection issued by its own Tombstone Records imprint, culling a staggering 49 cuts to jam this double-disc collection to overflowing. It's a nice gesture, but sort of silly: Dead Moon's not really the sort of act that needs Sub Pop's help, our attention or anyone's platitudes. They're nice, but, for a band that's built an underground and overseas empire by the sweat of its own brow, it's a little misplaced.

Dead Moon knows it rocks, and gives us more than enough examples to prove it on Echoes of the Past. More than enough: 12 or 14 tracks would have done the trick. The 49 simply make this band's history too hard to swallow, too expansive and too unfocused for an introductory course that a collection like this should be. There are plenty of rockers on this one: Singer/guitarist Fred Cole and wife Toody strip away all the sub-genre overtones and focus on primal, minimalist rock'n'roll. It's the sort of thing that's aware of its Nuggets heritage without kowtowing to it and a firm believer in everything from The Troggs and Them to every Motor-City styled rock act to chug out of the rust belt. It's primitive and basic and, somehow, straight to the point.

"Dead Moon Night" and "Diamonds in the Rough" are the sort of rare garage/trash tracks that could have been either cut yesterday or in 1966. "These Times with You" messes with doo-wop jangle and solos that wring more soul from a no-frills solo than most bands get out of an entire song. "Psychedelic Nightmare" is pure rock'n'roll -- and thus would probably sound better coming out of a $20 boom box than your expensive stereo.

Turn it up until your ears ring. That's the only way to enjoy Dead Moon -- though with the staggering length of this collection, you'll probably lose your hearing before you wrap it up.

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Echoes of the Past

Dead Moon Sub Pop Records

Dead Moon
Sub Pop Records