Entering the world of MOOON is like stepping inside a time machine. The young power trio, comprising brothers Tom and Gijs de Jong and their cousin Timo van Lierop, takes the listener with them to the Golden Age of pop music: the psychedelic boom of the 60's and 70's. That very listener will want to fasten their seatbelts, because the good ship MOOON is about to set foot at its third destination.
MOOON saw the light of day in 2013, somewhere in an old barnyard in the southern province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Here, the seeds were sown for a project that, ten years later, is still in full swing – and never stops developing. One of the most important keystones of the project: working as authentically as possible. From the get-go, the music written and played by the band was recorded with instruments and gear from the original psychedelic era. It's an approach that shows MOOON's dedication to their craft: not ones to half-ass it, their sound is eerily accurate when compared to the music from back in the day. The Who, The Monkees, The Small Faces, but also less famous acts like The Idle Race, Grapefruit and Strawberry Alarm Clock: they're all in MOOON's musical DNA.
Not long after its inception, the band began playing youth clubs, pop venues and various festivals all around the Netherlands. In the following years, they began to broaden their horizon and tour abroad, including gigs and tours in France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Two albums were released, MOOON's Brew (2017) and Safari (2019), which were both enthusiastically received by the local and global psych scenes.
Four years after the last record, the band now presents their third album, III. On III, MOOON takes an ever deeper look into the treasure chest of psychedelia. The catchy garage rockers are still present, but are accompanied by more complex compositions. On You Cannot Know we hear an elaborate, jazzy drum solo, segueing into an almost baroque outro segment. It's one of the many examples of MOOON's development and growth as a band we hear on this new record. While still looking to the riches of the past for inspiration, the group dives deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole and embraces experimentation, resulting in a colorful mix of styles and ideas, without ever losing their authenticity and character.
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