Local rockers Moo! are about to make some noise. After forming last year and receiving a $2,000 grant from UCSC’s Alumni Association, the band has been hard at work preparing to release material. They plan to make their debut EP—Songs for All Seas, All Ships—available via their website before they play the Crepe Place on October 2. But that’s only the beginning.
“The original idea was to make a full-length album, but we figured releasing two EPs and a single separately would allow us to break up the work,” says Casey Dayan, who sings and plays guitar. “[It will also] help us compartmentalize the album with regards to sound and theme.”
One of the tracks on the new EP will be “The Rhythm Still Remains,” which can be heard on their Facebook page. Dayan growls in Eddie Vedder-like fashion throughout, and the song’s rock ‘n’ roll anchor is augmented by its unusual, halting time signature; it is groovy, bluesy and unstable all at once.
“It has a lot to do with growing up with my mom, who suffers from pretty severe schizophrenia,” says Dayan. “Most often, it’s too uncouth to explain, on a Saturday night at a bar, that the intensity I’m singing with comes from somewhere real. People get uncomfortable very easy nowadays. We all agree that music is cathartic, and it’s a powerful way to communicate perspective.”
INFO: 9 p.m. Thursday, October 2. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
