Mozes and the Firstborn

Some garage rock bands labor hard to make you wonder what decade they exist in. Dutch garage rockers Mozes and the Firstborn are not one of those bands; on their self-titled debut, they sound like theyve listened to a lot of garage and psych stuff in their time, both old and new, but they clearly live in the year 2013 and theyre perfectly happy about that. Mozes and the Firstborn have a soft spot for the fuzzy guitars of the 60s, and opening salvo Bloodsucker has an intro that would guarantee it a place in the Nuggets box set if it had been recorded in 1966. But theres as much lo-fi and indie rock lurking in these songs as Paisley Revisionism, and theres a laid-back charm to this music that has nothing to do with nostalgia and everything to do with the way the group approaches the material. Melle Dielesens songs have a personal touch thats winning, and I Got Skills, Skinny Girl, and Down with the Band are witty without forcing the laughs (and Skills remarkably suggests a collaboration between Beck and Weezer that would actually be worth hearing). Producer Michel Schoots, a former member of Urban Dance Squad, turns out to be a surprisingly good choice to put this groups sound on plastic, giving them a warm, analog treatment that revels in an undertow of hiss and vague sonic disconnect, which suits the mildly stoned attack. In a genre where so many bands are breaking their backs, Mozes and the Firstborn sounds like theyve kicked back with a beer and a joint before hitting the record button, and while that sure doesnt work for everyone, on this album its just what the doctor ordered. ~ Mark Deming