When I first listened to “Anna Sun,” the new three-song EP from Cincinnati, Ohio’s Walk The Moon, the straightforward melodic hooks sounded almost timeless, as if the band were floating around in a vacuum placed somewhere between 1986 and 2012. The driving, shuffling drumbeats sometimes give a sense of early house music, while at other times the pummeling tom-toms give a hair metal, arena rock sensibility. The rhythm guitars place them firmly in the realm of The Strokes-influenced indie rock territory, but they’re electronically filtered and tweaked to morph into something else entirely before you can realize it. The bass drives the pace along at a new-wavy clip, and the lead guitar and synthesizer trade straightforward melodic lines that cut through the confident instrumental backdrop to give context to the indie-dance grooves throughout the tracks.
The first song, “Tightrope,” doesn’t waste time as it jumps right into its driving beat and cutting arpeggios. The song moves rapidly toward its chorus, filled with “ohs” and “ahs” before it holds back the rhythm section during the bridge and flows seamlessly into the next track. The second song and title track, “Anna Sun,” allows a whooshing synthesizer to build suspense before it breaks into a similar groove.
Walk the Moon released a video of the song that starts with grain-filtered digital footage of the sky and an empty field with a closet door inexplicably placed in the plain. The camera takes us through the door and into what is simultaneously the hippest, most wholesome and most depressing looking indie-rock house show I’ve ever seen. The lead vocalist leads the crowd through the door where they have a wet paint party, complete with an ultra-hip choreography sequence peppered with just a hint of gender-bending.
The closing track, “Next in Line,” keeps the pace with a Pixies-esque delay filtered through the rhythm guitar and more forward-moving, yet dancy, bass and synthesizer.
Walk The Moon sounds confident on its major label debut, and the band has a lot of fun with its upbeat, happy tunes. At three tracks, this EP is short enough not to wear out its welcome while still letting the band show its chops musically. The only thing the band doesn’t seem quite so sure about yet is the vocals, which fall squarely and haphazardly in the indie rock male standard: high pitched, suburban, unsure if it values monogamy or casual sex and possibly auto-tuned at the chorus.
The quality of the vocals suggest a potential that isn’t quite reached on this EP, and the lyrics reflect that. As the band moves forward and decides what might be the best ratio of pop to rock, things will probably even out; until then, listeners will have to overlook almost painful lyrics such as, “We got no money but we got heart/We’re gonna rattle this ghost town/We’re gonna rattle this scene.” But again, clocking in at fewer than 15 minutes, none of this has a chance to become overbearing. The three tracks move at a comfortable and upbeat pace.
This EP plays like a teaser, and hopefully the band’s first album will give it a little room to sprawl out and take its time.
Walk The Moon is currently on a North American tour with Young the Giant and Grouplove. Unfortunately, they won’t be stopping through Florida, but it’s playing a show in Atlanta on March 10. The video for “Anna Sun” can be streamed through VEVO, and the EP is available digitally, in stores and through Spotify.
