Who would have thought a band on the top five of the College Music Journal's music charts would sound like acid rock? That's a no-brainer.
Luna, a band straight from New York City, is releasing a new mini-album, Close Cover Before Striking, on Jetset Records on Oct. 22. Luna has played on both the Conan O'Brien and Craig Kilborn shows, as well as having a cult following since 1992.
Listening to this album, one might picture taking a late-night road trip supported with lots of energy drinks and ever-entertaining friends. Many of the songs on Striking have a slow, slightly dragging tempo that could relax even the most anxious people into falling asleep at the wheel.
Striking has only seven tracks, each sounding fairly similar. The seventh track, "Neon Lights," has much more of an '80s-New-Wave influence than an acid rock influence. Play it over a high-school dance scene in a John Hughes movie and it will fit without distinction.
Striking rarely deviates from its established style. Without looking at the liner notes, I would swear there were only three tracks on this mini-album.
Both the first track "Astronaut" and the last track "Neon Lights" can be distinguished from the rest of Striking by their slight variations in sound, but each of the other songs - including the instrumental track, "Drunken Whistler" - sound so similar it's hard to tell the difference between them.
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Luna seems very talented musically and much of the sound quality is well-produced - the riffs, the distortion, the arrangements, etc. But from listening to Striking, it appears that the band's music lacks variety and because of this, Luna may never break out of the college music charts and onto the Billboard music charts.
Luna plays with Jennyanykind at the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave., on Thursday. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door and are availablein advance for $12 at Natural Sound.
For more information call 764-8887 or visit the Launchpad's web site at www.launchpadrocks.com.
