David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House Band (Secretly Canadian)
Every fan of rock should go through an obligatory T-Rex phase and, if the moment suits you, the aforementioned phase should take you through the trifecta Bolan landmarks of Electric Warrior, The Slider and Tanx. It might even take you through the film Born To Boogie which wonderfully documents the height of T-Rextasy and captures Bolan at that perfect apex, immortalizing him as that sexy legend who whimsically tiptoed his way into stardom and influenced countless musicians.
David Vandervelde has done a lot more than merely picking up a few T-Rex album that document his own Bolan phase; he’s picked up a few instruments and barricaded himself in Jay Bennett’s studio to record the most honest-to-god T-Rex album since Dandy In The Underworld.
Before you either 1.) call bullshit on me or 2.) get hot and bothered about the idea of the second coming of Marc Bolan, understand that Dandy In The Underworld wasn’t even that good of a T-Rex album and, by understanding that, it should reassure you that Chicago’s David Vandervelde is nowhere close to becoming the reincarnation of Marc Bolan.
The Moonstation House Band tries hard to pretend that it’s 1971 again and on a few occasions you’d swear that Vandervelde has indeed invented a time machine. Hell, even the refreshing eight song total harks back to an era of “side a” or “program 4” depending on your format. The thing is, out of those 8 tracks (pun intended) only the first three (“Nothin’ No,” “Jacket,” and “Feet Of A Liar”) manage to start the DeLorean. And out of those three, only “Nothin’ No” qualifies as an eerily wonderful T-Rex outtake that never was.
Which again points to the genius that was/is Marc Bolan. For a guy who made some of the most simplistic rock songs ever, we’ve yet to hear another artist that can match the track-by-track genius that was his incredible three album run in the early 70s. For Vandervelde to effectively channel one tune is pretty impressive. The fact that he managed to do it three years ago, on one night and at the tender age of nineteen makes “Nothin’ No” a special track worthy of praise and examination. It also places The Moonstation House Band as a piece of early naiveté in a potentially long and fruitful career.
MP3s:
• David Vandervelde - "Nothin' No"
• David Vandervelde - "Jacket"
• Stream the whole album.
David Vandervelde - "Jacket" video directed by Iqbal Ahmed
TOUR DATES
09/15/07 Wiltshire, UK - End of the Road Festival
09/17/07 London, UK - Luminaire
09/18/07 Nottingham, UK - The Social
09/19/07 Glasgow, UK - The Barfly
09/20/07 Belfast, N. Ireland - Club Radar at Speakeasy
09/21/07 Dublin, Ireland - Radiator at the Hub
09/22/07 Manchester, UK - Night and Day Cafe
09/23/07 Bristol, UK - Thekla Social
09/24/07 Brighton, UK - The Prince Albert
09/25/07 Paris, France - La Maraqoniere
09/26/07 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
09/27/07 Utrecht, Netherlands - Ekko
09/28/07 Malmo, Sweden - Inkonst
09/29/07 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
10/01/07 Oslo, Norway - Cafe Mono
10/02/07 Gotenborg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren
10/03/07 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
10/04/07 Hamburg, German - Haus 73
10/06/07 Groningen, Netherlands - Take Root Festival
10/07/07 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
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Comments
Beyond the purported T-Rex authenticity of this album, I think that as a whole, it's pretty strong, especially given that Vandervelde is so young, and that I guess he played all of the instruments on it. There's no doubt that "Nothin' No" is a great track, but besides the other two tracks mentioned here, I really liked "Can't See Your Face No More" and "Murder in Michigan". Overall, we can only hope it gets even better from here, but regardless, this album is a good listen.
I also read recently that Vandervelde contributed to Jay Bennett's new solo album, which I believe is due sometime in September.