TOOT

MOOM was an oddball act to emerge from Northampton, England during the prog revival of the 1990s and existed long enough to release a couple albums on the Delerium Record label which was a cutting edge prog label that was siphoning up the newbie prog acts of the era including a fledgling Porcupine Tree as well as many of the psychedelic rock revivalists. The band consisted of Kristian Hartridge (guitar, vocals), Greg Myles (drums, vocals), Andy Fairclough (keyboards), Mark Astill (guitar) and Jim Patterson (bass). The band formed somewhere around 1992 but remains a bit obscure as it has very much remained an underground unit.

The debut album TOOT was released in 1995 and was guided under the tutelage of Robert John Godfrey of The Enid who helped the band go through the processes of recording and releasing albums. TOOT is a wildly strange ride of varying styles and although the band has latched itself on to the Canterbury Scene for moments that are reminiscent of of Hatfield & The North and other moments of the 70s scene, the album is actually all over the place with just as much time dedicated to alternative rock, folk, American jam bands and even references to Zappa.

After the short prelude, "Sally" showcases a feisty funk guitar sound that eventually shifts into a vocal led resembling classic Caravan with classic Canterbury keys and a bit of whimsy. The track also features some nice classic guitar licks. While "Sally" indicates a connection to Canterbury, the album quickly deviates into a world of organ dominated sound of a singer / songwriter with a bit of country twang with steel lap guitars on "Astronought" and the following "The Void Is Clear" offers a bit of ska syncopation but offers varying parts with keyboard led rock as well as faster guitar soloing segments. "Babbashagga" does evoke a classic Hatfield & The North sound only set to an easier listening style that sort of mixes Canterbury with 90s Britpop. At its heart MOOM was just a more adventurous pop rock band that was more creative than the average act of its day.

"The Higher Sun" is actually pretty psychedelic with some sort of didgeridoo type of instrument towards the end. "The Crocodilian Suite" does indeed start off with those herky jerky Canterbury rhythms only set to an alternative rock context however the organs do bring a neo-psychedelia band like Phish to mind for its long psychedelic jamming at the end. This is actually one of the more interesting tracks notable for its quirky rhythms, nice melodies and the Canterbury warmth not only in the musical scales but in the keyboard tones. The guitar soloing is tasteful and the vocals aren't as annoying as they can be as on some other tracks.

"Eye" is another quirky one with stellar bass grooves, trippy organs and lots of progressive time signature guitar moves including a long dub sequence with trippy synthesized sound effects. The lengthiest tracks is the closing "I Can't Remember the '60s... I Must Have Been There" and despite the lengthy playing time is more reminiscent of a more progressive Grateful Dead jam than anything with lengthy Jerry Garcia type guitar solos however the trippy keys and organs offer a touch of modern neo-psychedelia and the Canterbury warmth is present in the key tones and bass grooves.

MOOM's music is as quirky as the band name and TOOT, the debut is very strange indeed. Existing somewhere between an amateurish garage rock band, a Vermont hippie jamming collective and a fully dedicated prog band, MOOM excels at nothing and yet delivers a little of everything. The album is lighthearted and never delves into serious subject matter and TOOT offers a playful approach of mixing all the various styles in a new way that nobody had thought of before. While the ideas are pretty cool, the execution isn't as proficient as i'd hoped and although i'm totally fine with slacker band types tackling musical styles from a different angle, MOOM rubs me wrong the most in the vocal department. It's certainly an entertaining album in its own right but not really want that beckons return visits either. A strange anomaly in the extended Canterbury family, MOOM certainly delivered something unexpected and unique with TOOT in 1995.