For nearly a decade the electronic group Moon Duo has been quietly releasing albums to wild appraise by a small, yet loyal, following.
Initially billed as a side project of Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson, Moon Duo, consisting of Johnson and Sanae Yamada has risen into a respected group in it's own right, releasing 4 full length albums and a slew of remix, live, and EPs including the Jukebox Babe / No Fun EP on Sacred Bones that includes the Stooges cover No Fun and the Alan Vega (of Suicide) cover 'Jukebox Babe' earlier this year.
If it could said that Moon Duo is the contemporary equivalent of the stooges, with peppy hooks and playful lyrics, then the solo work of Sanae Yamada would be the contemporary equivalent of Suicide, with solid pop sensibility hidden behind dark rumblings and reverb.
Yamada's first full length, billed under Vive La Void, begins on a sequenced astral plane with the spacey dream pop track Matter before quickly diving into the dark electronic depths of Red Rider.
The album's fist 2 singles, Red Rider and Death Money, may be the catchiest with Yamada's dream pop vocals sprinkled over John Carpenter style mischievous electronica, but there isn't a misstep on the entire album, with the last two tracks, Devil and Atlantis being the strongest. Devil is an 8 and a half minute romp through a strange underworld packed with cryptic lyrics and Atlantis closes the album with a lone nostalgic instrumental driven by Wurlitzer style organs and field recordings giving Vive La Void a solid coda to a solid first full length from Yamada.
Vive La Void will be released on May 4th on Sacred Bones. Pre-Order here.
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