Album Review: Steve Moss – Another Go
If you go to Steve Moss's website and head on to the About section, you won't learn much. And some of the facts listed there are self-evident. "Steve Moss is a singer-songwriter." This we knew. "As with his first album, Another Go was recorded at home, with Steve playing every instrument and performing every production role himself." And this we could have easily guessed. The DIY ethos that speaks through the music makes the listening experience cozier and more intimate, definitely more delightful and... strangely magical, in a way.
Maybe Steve doesn't say much because he wants the music to speak for itself. Especially considering the fact that it's his second album – and first in twenty years. The energy has been building up for two decades! Let's tune in and see where it gets us.
The first step takes courage, but we have No Fear. That's the name of the first song on the record.
Maybe Steve doesn't say much because he wants the music to speak for itself. Especially considering the fact that it's his second album – and first in twenty years. The energy has been building up for two decades! Let's tune in and see where it gets us.
The first step takes courage, but we have No Fear. That's the name of the first song on the record.
Steve Moss
No Fear was about our change in perspective from when we were kids. I was thinking about how I grew up before school shootings were a thing, and were basically unimaginable.
Those days are gone, and the world only gets crazier. If you think of it as a body, then you'll see it hurts in many places. And everything is interconnected. If you let all of it get into your head, you'll get too confused to even move your toe.
So to procede without fear you need to clear your head first. Leave only what's important and ditch the rest. Get simple. Get humble, but do your best. Grow your own garden. And that's what the album seems to be about. It's simple power pop that hits right on target with catchy melodies, down-to-earth approach and sincerity in every aspect that you just can't ignore. Every instrument part is precise and on-point, but if you know how to handle a guitar, you feel like you can play it too. Melodies are perfect, but you get the impression you could write them if you concentrated and tried a bit harder. All of this contributes to how uplifting and inspiring this album is.
And the second song is no exception.
So to procede without fear you need to clear your head first. Leave only what's important and ditch the rest. Get simple. Get humble, but do your best. Grow your own garden. And that's what the album seems to be about. It's simple power pop that hits right on target with catchy melodies, down-to-earth approach and sincerity in every aspect that you just can't ignore. Every instrument part is precise and on-point, but if you know how to handle a guitar, you feel like you can play it too. Melodies are perfect, but you get the impression you could write them if you concentrated and tried a bit harder. All of this contributes to how uplifting and inspiring this album is.
And the second song is no exception.
Steve Moss
"Twice As Hard As Yesterday" began when I was listening to a compilation by The Searchers, and realized how much more gentle and polite they were compared to The Beatles. I tried to think of something from that era that would have a similar drive and attitude, and ended up here.
However, the song carries an unmistakable post-60s air. Maybe it's not decidedly different, but it surely bears a mark of experience and disillusionment that make you want to come back and try again (twice as hard as yesterday, as the lyrics suggest), with the bitter knowledge you didn't have then that you have now.
In this regard it reminds me of classic Big Star songs more than it reminds of The Beatles and The Searchers. But it's not the 60s now, and not even the 70s. We know all the bitter truths now that we didn't know then. However, we are still optimistic, still starry-eyed, and we still worship the same ideals. This is what makes the song and its approach particularly valuable to me – it reminds us we are not all cynical, and we don't have to be.
I didn't have to wait for the song that carries The Beatles' spirit much longer, though. It's a soothing dreamy ballad One Less Thing (I Have To Worry About).
In this regard it reminds me of classic Big Star songs more than it reminds of The Beatles and The Searchers. But it's not the 60s now, and not even the 70s. We know all the bitter truths now that we didn't know then. However, we are still optimistic, still starry-eyed, and we still worship the same ideals. This is what makes the song and its approach particularly valuable to me – it reminds us we are not all cynical, and we don't have to be.
I didn't have to wait for the song that carries The Beatles' spirit much longer, though. It's a soothing dreamy ballad One Less Thing (I Have To Worry About).
Steve Moss
It dates back almost 20 years, and is a look at our defense mechanisms and the ways we posture ourselves. It was the first track recorded for the album.
It bravely talks about these mechanisms we all share:
“
It's just a reflex I rely upon a bit too hard in my lousy system
But I will turn it around
Yes, I will turn it around
But I will turn it around
Yes, I will turn it around
The sharp honesty of the lyrics along with the soothing music had a magical effect on me. I did let go of some of my worries, and the world became just a little bit brighter. The Beatles tune that always has a similar effect on me is Dear Prudence, and it's no wonder sonically both songs borrow from the same palette.
Lost Along The Way, a song "about personal rebirth, and the frustration and determination to make new progress" provides a refreshing injection of energy after the slower and quieter moment that was Twice As Hard As Yesterday. An evident point of reference here would be Guided By Voices, with their robust melodies, straightforward arrangements and unstoppable energy.
Overgrown, "half a love song about destiny, and half about how others see you differently than you do" is noteable for its production, stripped down to the max even by Steve Moss's standards, and its elevating vocal harmonies.
But then we get an even more stripped down arrangement. And more vocal harmonies. My Darling, with its extremely minimalistic lyrics, warm acoustic guitar and relaxed dreamy vibe wouldn't sound out of place on McCartney I.
Lost Along The Way, a song "about personal rebirth, and the frustration and determination to make new progress" provides a refreshing injection of energy after the slower and quieter moment that was Twice As Hard As Yesterday. An evident point of reference here would be Guided By Voices, with their robust melodies, straightforward arrangements and unstoppable energy.
Overgrown, "half a love song about destiny, and half about how others see you differently than you do" is noteable for its production, stripped down to the max even by Steve Moss's standards, and its elevating vocal harmonies.
But then we get an even more stripped down arrangement. And more vocal harmonies. My Darling, with its extremely minimalistic lyrics, warm acoustic guitar and relaxed dreamy vibe wouldn't sound out of place on McCartney I.
Steve Moss
Gun Shy is about the anxiety that comes with approaching a new relationship. I was in kind of a Tom Petty headspace while working on it.
The track carries on the torch of minimalistic approach to production and boasts probably the catchiest chorus melody on the album.
Silver Day paints pictures of nature not only with its lyrics ("Heavy skies, bitter wind, and falling rain"), but also with its carefree approach that carries the feelings of freedom and relief, as if you've been suddenly carried over to a most pastoral landscape from a busy city.
Parallel marries bitterness, feather-light melodies and a slight touch of psychedelia in a way that instantly brought to mind some of The Velvet Underground's classic records.
The album closes with Exhausted, "a rumination on personal fatigue, and the need for rejuvenation", which, despite the topic, comes down on you like an avalanche of dirty guitars, muscular melodic hooks and fresh energy, reaching its peak by the end of the song.
The moment serves as a perfect closer for the album, a collection of songs that accumulates the energy from 20 years and packs it an easy-to-digest form. The album is at times sad and bitter, but mostly it is hopeful and uplifting. However it always stays... human. You can feel the real person behind each song, and it makes you connect to the music and lyrics on a deeper and more satisfying level. If every album uploaded to streaming services was like that, I imagine we'd be living in a vastly different world.
Silver Day paints pictures of nature not only with its lyrics ("Heavy skies, bitter wind, and falling rain"), but also with its carefree approach that carries the feelings of freedom and relief, as if you've been suddenly carried over to a most pastoral landscape from a busy city.
Parallel marries bitterness, feather-light melodies and a slight touch of psychedelia in a way that instantly brought to mind some of The Velvet Underground's classic records.
The album closes with Exhausted, "a rumination on personal fatigue, and the need for rejuvenation", which, despite the topic, comes down on you like an avalanche of dirty guitars, muscular melodic hooks and fresh energy, reaching its peak by the end of the song.
The moment serves as a perfect closer for the album, a collection of songs that accumulates the energy from 20 years and packs it an easy-to-digest form. The album is at times sad and bitter, but mostly it is hopeful and uplifting. However it always stays... human. You can feel the real person behind each song, and it makes you connect to the music and lyrics on a deeper and more satisfying level. If every album uploaded to streaming services was like that, I imagine we'd be living in a vastly different world.