Moonlight Towers

The rock band is dead. That’s what we heard at the end of last year when not a single guitar/guitar/bass/drums album landed on Billboard’s list of the 25 best-selling albums of 2010. But James Stevens of Moonlight Towers is not buying the doom talk. “Everyone I know is into rock ’n’ roll,” said the Austin band’s singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer. Moonlight Towers’ new album “Day is the New Night” is definite proof that rock’s not even under the weather.

Two previous, critically acclaimed albums make this one the end of a trilogy, so Stevens, drummer/harmony singer Richard Galloway, guitarist/ keyboardist Jacob Schulze and bassist Jason Daniels paint their power pop in grander strokes. Occasional horns, as on steamroller opening track “Heat Lightning,” and impassioned female vocals (“Distant Wheels,” “Easy Way Out”) give the record a Memphis feel. But if the band didn’t name itself after an Austin thing, you might think they’re from New Jersey or Philadelphia. At times they sound like the Smithereens if their singer were Jon Bon Jovi. (Bet that line doesn’t make the press kit.)

The four members of Moonlight Towers — all original — have day jobs and new families, so they don’t play out as often as they want to, though a recent tour with Blind Melon (Stevens’ brother’s band) recharged their road readiness.

“Day Is the New Night” came together in bits and pieces, though it sounds like it was bashed out in a barn over a long weekend. Since Stevens co-owns the East Austin Recording studio, the Towers were able to get their ideas down during unoccupied blocks of time. “We made the record in about 10 hours, spread out over a year,” said Stevens, raised in the same small Mississippi town where Howlin’ Wolf was born. “Our enthusiasm for playing music hasn’t changed at all, even though we have other responsibilities,” Stevens said. “I felt the same way making this record as when I was 16 going to Memphis to make a demo. The whole band is like that. This is what we do.” Sales might be slow, but the love for pure danceable rock ’n’ roll will stay strong if Moonlight Towers have anything to say about it. And on the new record they do. - Record Review by Michael Corcoran

This is a set of heartland rock tunes boasting smart lyrics and cogent, incisive musicianship, served up with a youthful spirit tempered by experience. The Austin, Texas-based quartet renders its songs with no concessions to the pop/rock fads of the past thirty-odd years. Singer/guitarist James Stevens projects the All-American earnestness of vintage Petty or Springsteen, avoiding histrionic gestures in favor of straight-ahead confessions of desire and restlessness. Bolstered by Jacob Schulze’s bicep-flexing guitar riffs and the anchoring rhythms of bassist Jason Daniels and drummer Richard Galloway, he dishes out such crunchy rockers as “What Else Can I Say,” “Heat Lightning” and “Black River” with scruffy aplomb. The musing tone of “Distant Wheels” recalls John Lennon, while “The Easy Way Out” stirs up the summertime glow of ‘70s-era R&B. Especially winning are “Comes a Time” (a strong but tender ballad complete with strings) and “Not a Kid Anymore” (a minor-key rocker about growing older and possibly wiser). - Record Review ITunes

Simply put, there's not a hair out of place on this album. No elongated creative indulgences, deliberate obtuseness, or cheap gimmicks – just nine rock-solid barroom pop salvation songs that bypass the moment in favor of something that will never go completely out of style. Alcohol-fueled power pop is at the center of it all, but Moonlight Towers is way too scuffed-up for skinny ties. The James Stevens-led local quartet's third LP is loosely informed by the tension between wanting to make it past closing time and a looming sense of mortality. That trope is particularly pungent on the driving rocker "Not a Kid Anymore." Borrowing its title from Neil Young, "Comes a Time" arrives soaked in the bittersweet recognition that every safe harbor is ephemeral. If the violin swell that ends the chorus doesn't put a lump in your throat, you haven't lived enough. After years of sure-handed live performances, this is a permanent exclamation point. - Record Review by Greg Beets

.Speaking of well crafted power-pop, don't not miss the amazing Moonlight Tower's album Like You Were Never There. I've had "Everybody Knows Why" on repeat all day. (Issue 89 Vol 13 November 2005)

- Record Review by Abby White

One might complain that the music this Austin quartet plays lacks regional flavor, but I don't think that's a bad thing: lots of Austin bands claiming to have regional flavor sound as phony as a plastic shaker of "Cajun seasoning" that's actually 40 percent MSG. I'm racking my brain for some way to resist the glistening, hard-surfaced, perfectly molded power pop on the Moonlight Towers' second album, Like You Were Never There (Spinster), but the only complaint I can make is that listening to a bunch of their songs at one sitting feels like too much--the same way one hard butterscotch candy is the best thing in the world but a whole bag makes your mouth hate you. - Record Review By Monica Kendrick

Finally, some Southern-fried Pop Rock from Austin, Texas, which has nothing in common with Spoon! Moonlight Towers is a refreshingly straight-ahead quartet that is brimming with energy and talent. Restraint is the name of the game, but not minimalism -- the sound is full, but not dense. Formed in 2001, they take their name from a bygone urban lighting system that used six carbon-arc lamps on tall, triangular towers in place of streetlights. Austin is the only city that maintains these devices, which cast light up to 3,000 feet. The band chose the moniker well, as their back-to-basics, hook-laden tunes remind you that simple, tuneful bands have become somewhat of an anachronism. Starting as a trio, they released a self-titled disc that established their trademarks -- James Stevens' brown-sugar voice and chugging/soaring guitar, and the bash-and-thump grooves of bassist Jason Daniels and drummer Richard Galloway. Jacob Schulze asked to join shortly thereafter, bringing slippery leads and counterpoint. For their latest album, they traveled to New Orleans and enlisted the services of Mike Napolitano, whom Cincinnatians will recognize as the producer of ex-Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers. (Napolitano's credits also include Blind Melon and Joseph Arthur.) The fruit of their labor is Like You Were Never There, a solid effort that, like baby bear's porridge, is just right. Not too rough but not too slick; not too heavy but not too delicate; not too busy but not too sparse. The album sounds very live and direct, like it would not take a crew of seven musicians to re-create it faithfully. They've had a lot of Superdrag comparisons, which are fairly apt. The Towers have been on the road quite a bit since releasing their latest album last summer; the band's Cincinnati stop is part of a one-month jaunt around the Midwest.

- Record Review by Ezra Waller

A point of frustration I have with country-inflected rock is that there are one too many bands parading down the same path that the pioneers (from Gram Parsons to Uncle Tupelo) blazed. So it came with a sigh of relief to hear a band that sounds like they studied latter-day Beatles albums closer than anything considered alt-country in the past fifteen years. The songs found on this Austin-based quartets second album feature grabbing melodies at the forefront while being supported by some of the atmosphere you would find in most alt-country. The songs and lyrics are sung like vocalist/guitarist James Stevens is looking through the bottom of a nearly-empty bottle of beer, but his lyrics dont reek of complete gloom and doom. The southern country touch is definitely there, but its more indie rock at its best than alt-country at its worst. Like You Were Never There has a straight focus on being good rock that sounds familiar and fresh at the same time. The production is clean and open, bypassing clever studio tricks to cover up whatever weaknesses hamper a bands sound. Basically, its a rare combination of seeing a band play incredibly well in a live setting and it translating to a T on record. Just like the bands live set-up, this album shows a rock band with a great understanding of what sticks and what doesnt. Though certain songs feel a little samey when listened to it as a whole, Like You Were Never There is a steady, consistent album. Where exactly a band fits in anywhere in the indie world is really a moot point. They may be destined to the Recommended if you like alt-country bin, but listen to Like You Were Never There and you may realize how much more a band has to offer using such spare parts.

- Record Review by Eric Grubbs

Austin's Moonlight Towers play a style that splendidly blends the guitar rock of Replacements and Oasis but can't hide its southern upbringing. The band's 2002 self-titled debut caught a lot of Austin scenesters by surprise when it came out and led to both a local following and some national attention. Hoping to make the next step up the career ladder, Moonlight Towers decamped to New Orleans to record the follow-up with producer/engineer Mike Napolitano (Blind Melon, Squirrel Nut Zippers), and the resulting Like You Were Never There is a terrific sounding record that effectively captures the band's gritty, melodic sound.

Musically, Moonlight Towers inhabit the spaces between defined musical genres but with a very classic four-on-the-floor rock foundation. They're twangy but steer clear of being too alt-country. They rock but never lose the focus on the songs. James Stevens has a classic nicotine-stained barroom rock singer's voice with plenty of soul. He also has a good sense of which high notes to try to hit, and what his lyrics may lack in poetic flourish is more than made up for in heartfelt honesty.

The record kicks off with a bang with the rousing "Never the Same Again," which sounds expressly written to get a room of passive listeners to pay attention to a band they may not know anything about. The second song, "I Sleep Alone" is terminally catchy and uses great dynamics and well-placed harmonies to become the real standout track. From here, things mellow out and never really crank back up again. The next two songs, "Born To Die" and "Everybody Knows Why" ratchet up the drinking and weeping quotient and would find good homes in neon beer signed roadhouses. The fifth track, "Sparks Will Fly," is the best of the record's plentiful slow-dancers with a lovely, aching riff, great keyboard accents, and some of Stevens' best singing.

From there, Like You Were Never There settles into a sort of mid-tempo rhythm that showcases the band's knack for great tunes but lacks the heights of the earlier songs. Within certain songs, little nuggets of potential glory reside in individual parts (i.e. the excellent chorus in the otherwise prosaic "End of the Rope"), but no one song seems as fully realized as either "I Sleep Alone" or "Sparks Will Fly." But even though it may end up being a bit too consistent, that may be exactly what some listeners want in.

There is no doubt that Moonlight Towers have both a knack for writing great tunes, and a gifted vocalist in Stevens, but they need to avoid the roots-rock potholes which may work well live but lack fire on this record. Overall, Like You Were Never There is a mature, professional sounding record loaded with well-written, tuneful songs, but the really thrilling moments scattered around the record make me think that we haven't seen the best of this band yet.

- Record Review by Andy Smith

Austin's Moonlight Towers are a four-piece rock band (two electric guitars, bass, drums) with a sound that has been a constant in popular music for 40 years. The guitars dominate the arrangements, alternately jangly and twangy, and over them James Stevens sings romantic lyrics in a gruff tenor. Small bands have been playing this music since a bunch of American competitors began to emerge to challenge the Beatles in 1964, and they have gone on playing it, without as much commercial success, in the decades since, whether they were called the Dwight Twilley Band, Big Star, the Replacements, or the Black Crowes, and whether they were branded mainstream rock & roll, alternative, or indie rock by critics and publicists. Moonlight Towers don't really bring anything new to the formula, but they execute it as well as anybody, and this style of melodic guitar rock has been consistently played for 40 years because it's been consistently appealing, so there's always room for another band. - allmusic.com

(Spinster)
You know, progressive rock, psychedelic improvisation, black metal and balls-to-the-wall power rock are all good things, but sometimes you just gotta have some straightforward, no-bullshit songcraft, y'know? Some catchy melodies, heart-on-sleeve lyrics and unfancy performances. Moonlight Towers more than delivers on its latest album Like You Were Never There. The Austin band infuses tight, tuneful cuts like "I Sleep Alone," "Every Second Drags" and the beautiful "Sparks Will Fly" with a dusty, Southwestern edge, keeping slickness at bay while retaining a strong sense of craft. And though frontguy James Stevenson stays within the bounds of taste in his vocals, it's easy to tell that he means every word he sings. Simply wonderful. - Record Review by Michael Tolland

Austin's Moonlight Towers are a four-piece rock band (two electric guitars, bass, drums) with a sound that has been a constant in popular music for 40 years. The guitars dominate the arrangements, alternately jangly and twangy, and over them James Stevens sings romantic lyrics in a gruff tenor. Small bands have been playing this music since a bunch of American competitors began to emerge to challenge the Beatles in 1964, and they have gone on playing it, without as much commercial success, in the decades since, whether they were called the Dwight Twilley Band, Big Star, the Replacements, or the Black Crowes, and whether they were branded mainstream rock & roll, alternative, or indie rock by critics and publicists. Moonlight Towers don't really bring anything new to the formula, but they execute it as well as anybody, and this style of melodic guitar rock has been consistently played for 40 years because it's been consistently appealing, so there's always room for another band. - Record Review by William Ruhlmann

This Austin-based quartet goes easy on the roots, favoring instead a clean, power-pop approach, replete with hooky songs, crisp vocal harmonies and beats right out of Badfinger. The danger in this, of course, is sounding like the 977th iteration of The Beatles, but Moonlight Towers delivers the goods with swagger and integrity - and they don't fall into the power-pop trap of being too coy and clever for their own good. 3.5 stars. - Record Review by Eric Snider

Having a band in Austin, Texas, is a little like having a Mexican food restaurant in Tucson: If it's not great, it's out of business practically overnight.

Moonlight Towers is great. In fact, it's a current favorite of at least one Austin Chronicle music news writer. We know this, because he was among the half-dozen people who attended this show, and he said so. (Where were the rest of you, anyway? It's Tucson's 231st birthday. You're supposed to be out celebrating!)

Moonlight Towers performed a 20-song set in the Plush bar, with the kind of energy, animation and commitment that deserves the big room with a capacity crowd. Their alternately ringing, hard-charging, bouncing, swooning and power pop felt like a personal gift in that intimate space, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one struggling not to get off my chair and dance around like an idiot. But you know, when there are chairs for everyone, we sit. It's Pavlovian or something.

Drummer Richard Galloway seemed to hold back a bit at first in deference to the room size, but three songs in, he and the band were full throttle, leaving much of their own decorum in their wake. Multi-instrumentalist and lead-guitarist Jacob Schulze applied tasteful touches of keyboards and pedal steel, while bassist Jason Daniels played intriguing but disciplined bass parts, all arranged in service to James Stevens' songs about love's rougher edges. The overall effect was that of a tight unit in which every note and beat matters.

Hooks are Moonlight Towers' stock in trade; every song has a melody line, a chorus, a guitar part or an unexpected twist that will reach out and pull you in like a grapnel.

Soul-flavored songs, like "If We Make It to the Light" and "Born to Die," both from their 2005 release, Like You Were Never There, and the Cosmic American "Every Second Drags," which actually brought some two-steppers to their feet, kept the pace varied, as did the offbeat covers: Electric Light Orchestra's "Can't Get It Out of My Head," Big Star's "September Gurls," the Rolling Stones' "Moonlight Mile" and Television's "Marquee Moon."

Moonlight Towers takes its name from a lighting system Austin installed in 1895. Seventeen of the willowy, 150-foot spindles still stand, antiques looking for all the world like space needles or contemporary sculpture. This band is clearly in it for the long haul.
- Live Review by Linda Ray

The second outing from Austin's Moonlight Towers features lot of good singin' and good playin'. "Another Castaway" calls to mind Matthew Sweet while the tender "Born to Die" suggests the Plastic Ono Band in a supersession with Big Star. It is after all the songs that come to the fore throughout and "Everybody Knows Why" and "Got Your Love" stick with you long after the record's spun to its close. Catchy and contemporary with strong ties to guitar-driven pop's past (and its present) Like You Were Never There is a record you can't help but love, and you'll always remember where you were when you got turned on to it.

- Record Review by Jedd Beaudoin

On this band's new 'Like You Were Never There,' Austin's favorite three minute heroes show everyone else how to write drum-head-tight power pop.

- Record Review by Joe Gross

One good thing about the weather here: Those perfect summer albums go a long, long way. It has probably been pretty close to a perfect summer for the members of Austin's Moonlight Towers, who've sprung from out of nowhere and grabbed a piece of both the local barroom pie and the radio-ready-rock pie, even piling up some notable airplay time. Give them all the credit for putting a quality product on the shelves. As the opening harmonica lick crosses paths with the ascending Yo La Tengo riff of "Holding Back," it's immediately evident that the goal of Moonlight Towers isn't to be clever, cool, or challenging, but to comfort, caress, slap on the back, and buy a round of tall cold ones. If you find yourself in tune with the gods of eternal sunshine and cold pale ales, "Goin' for Drinks" is as great an anthem as anybody could want. It finds the Towers at their most Grand Champeen/Paul Westerberg, but has a Big Star/big rock sound that fills the stereo like a classic summer blast. It's one of at least three cuts (along with "Built to Last" and "Sixteen") that all but scream for radio play. Moonlight Towers are the equivalent of a cold, creamy vanilla malt on a hot day. If you want complexity and intrigue, go elsewhere. If you just want to blast some quality rock spiked with a double shot of sincerity and fun, get behind the Moonlight Towers. Who knows, bands like this might just make the radio a tolerable place again. 3 stars - Record Review by Michael Chamy

The second outing from Austin's Moonlight Towers features lot of good singin' and good playin'. "Another Castaway" calls to mind Matthew Sweet while the tender "Born to Die" suggests the Plastic Ono Band in a supersession with Big Star. It is after all the songs that come to the fore throughout and "Everybody Knows Why" and "Got Your Love" stick with you long after the record's spun to its close. Catchy and contemporary with strong ties to guitar-driven pop's past (and its present) Like You Were Never There is a record you can't help but love, and you'll always remember where you were when you got turned on to it.

- Record Review by Jedd Beaudoin