THE MOANERS
Album Title: Dark Snack
Producer(s): Rick Miller, the Moaners
Genre: NEW & NOTEWORTHY
Label/Catalog Number: Yep Roc 2088
Release Date: Jan. 25
Source: Billboard Magazine
Originally Reviewed: January 15, 2005


If the White Stripes were both women and grew up in the South, they might sound like the Moaners. North Carolina-based singer/guitarist Melissa Swingle and drummer Laura King spark and slash their way through 11 humidity-drenched blues originals steeped in sex, literature and rock'n'roll. The three elements fuse with controlled distortion on "Flannery Said," while the bracing "Terrier" brings a self-styled big dog down to size. "Paradise Club," their variation on "House of the Rising Sun," offers pink-collar salvation in the form of decent wages at a rural strip club. "Elizabeth's Cotten Song" really is just that, an adaptation of an archetypical lyric from the Southern blues icon. The surprising two-piece versatility is evident on "Too Many People," with a jagged Talking Heads rhythm that brings to mind Kim Deal's under-appreciated mid-'90s band, the Amps. But the raucous, raw and rocking Moaners transcend comparisons on this sparkling, original debut.—WR