Make Moon

Dolphin City doesn’t try to be a flashy firecracker band, but instead grabs listeners’ attention in their own way. Made up of Tyler Ellis, Kevin Bleitz, Eric Scullin and Drew Morgan, the young four-piece outfit from Newport Beach, California surprises with a developed, lush sound that bands usually only find after years of playing together.

The band’s newly released album, “Discretion,” has a polished sound that often seems out of reach for independently produced records. With a soft kaleidoscope of bubbling electronica backing a Radiohead-influenced songwriting style, Dolphin City joins the fast-growing experimental-pop genre. Lead singer Eric Scullin’s voice carries each track on “Discretion” a delightful distance into the ether, leaving listeners with a curious desire for more.

The album kicks off with “Old Romance.” As with many of the “Discretion” tracks, “Old Romance” seems to have been the hodge-podge mix of several song ideas strung together. Don’t get the wrong idea, though. The opener track really moves, kicks the stereo in the teeth and says, “Hey, we’re here.”

“Wine and Grapes” is the album’s third track and was once featured on singleoftheday.com. The line “We can’t be contained/ Can’t be controlled” is a pretty solid description of “Discretion” and Dolphin City as a whole. Like the opening track, “Wine and Grapes” moves through several different grooves, and any listeners that don’t bob their head to the refrain “I bet you think you’ve got it made,” might need to get their ears checked.

Scullin calls out “We’re making plans for San Francisco” on the next track, “I Am Love You.” Again, Dolphin City constructs this one with the usual start: a slow groove that Michael Franks could have written if he had effects pedals that eventually turns into a serious fusion jam. It’s songs like these that can give the feeling that if Dolphin City wanted to, they could be a post-modern fusion band. But the band’s growing fan-base is glad they took a different route.

“It Will (Don’t Worry)” is another example of Dolphin City’s unbridled potential to be a completely rock-fusion band. “Lady V” is the closest thing to piano-rock “Discretion” has. That’s a good thing, since nobody listening to this album would really want an Andrew McMahon number anyway, and Dolphin City dutifully avoids the overly poppy cliché.

“Presque Vu” comes in with a gypsy mischief that isn’t found anywhere else in the album. Scullin can be nearly heard smirking when he sings, “I fall asleep at the wheel and hit the gas.” Morgan’s pedal-wizard guitar work on this track is particularly notable.

Dolphin City invites listeners to let the sound seep out of the stereo and not be concerned with categories or labels. In fact, labeling the band would take away some of what makes “Discretion” a great album: A lot of its sounds have not been heard before. It takes something special to cut a record like this without the aid of a major label.

The band has the musicianship, creativity and drive that is standard with any moderately successful group, but the reason they’re making waves while other bands get lost in the fog is that Dolphin City has a spark of nouveau genius, daring to experiment before establishing its own sound. “Discretion” has found a synergy that begs to be loved. - Tufts University

December, I made a little fun of the band name "Dolphin City" while writing about them in a (positive!) Locals Only column. "The name 'Dolphin City' sounds like a Lisa Frank-folder-sporting 8-year-old girl's dream," I wrote. (Not necessarily a bad thing, really.)

Still, that probably doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the band has changed their name to Make Moon. Their MySpace reflects the shift, with their URL now /makemoon and even their album cover changing to the new name. It's like they somehow went back in time and rewrote history so they were never even called Dolphin City!

I've reached out to the band to find out what exactly prompted the name change, so keep reading and all that. - OC Weekly

The name “Dolphin City” sounds like a Lisa Frank-folder-sporting 8-year-old girl’s dream, but thankfully, the Newport Beach band is considerably more mature than that. In fact, with a record titled Discretion, minimalist album art that recalls such highbrow releases as The Decline of British Sea Power, and songs named “I Am Love You” and “Presque Vu,” it’s almost as if they’re pleading, “Take us seriously!” And why not? The music merits as much. Dolphin City cite predictably lofty sources of inspiration (Brian Eno, Talking Heads), but on opener “Old Romance,” they sound more like recent anthemic British band Starsailor; the passionate croons of “I Am Love You” recall fellow Orange County band Cold War Kids. Bouncier tunes “Wine and Grapes” and “It Will (Don’t Worry)” sound a bit out-of-place, given the sterner tone of much of the record (they also have thinner vocals) but hold up well enough on their own. Piano is used skillfully throughout—avoiding the clichés of current piano rock (see OC expat Andrew McMahon’s Jack’s Mannequin), perhaps taking subtle cues from another influence, Tom Waits. The instrument complements rather than overwhelms on tracks such as “Do What is Right,” a passionate paean on, y’know, doing what’s right.Given the area’s preponderance of feather-light surf rock and that so much of current pop seems to almost pride itself on being stupid, the more thoughtful approach of Dolphin City doesn’t feel pretentious. Rather, it’s refreshing. - OC Weekly

Make Moon is a band of guys who know how to follow instructions--going so far as to tell us what they sound like, dropping a CD in the mail, and then following up with an e-mail. Bands everywhere take note: this is how you get a review.

Food for thought.

Thankfully, Make Moon also makes particularly enjoyable music. A solid rock band, their sound is accented with unexpected elements of jazz, psychedelia, new wave and good 'ol fashioned pop.

Their self-titled EP is a slippery thing--just when you think you've got them pegged, just when you begin to worry that they'd be easily pigeon-holed, the music takes an abrupt about-face. "Wine and Grapes" could easily slip into now-defunct The Golden Republic's catalog. "Lady V" interrupts the song for a brief jazz piano interlude that would give the members of Menomena pause. I'm not sure who I have to sweet talk to get these guys on a triple bill with local favorites I Make This Sound and New York New Wavers French Kicks--but dang it, this is the sort of music that makes me want to try. - Would Be Hipster [Blog]