Thee Moths

Up until recently Thee Moths were a two-piece whose members (Alex Botton and Dominque Ferraton, who left after the recording of this, their second album) geographically spanned over three thousand miles (Quebec and Scotland respectively), creating their music primarily through Postal Service-style mail correspondence. Certainly it adds to the disjoined feel of these two constructions, both compiled into large suites that are arbitrary given "parts.” One could draw a direct parallel to the lo-fi indie rock of the Microphones, though an indirect line of reference could also be also made to the pastiche style of Atlanta’s cLOUDDEAD, as both of the album’s tracks break off into seemingly unrelated segments, complete with distorted drum loops and pastoral ambience. The opening section of "The Cooling of Light Bulbs” even borrows liberally from R.E.M.’s "Find the River” before gentle harmonising fades into a section that uses a radio dial as an instrument, its prominence in the mix covering the distorted pop smothered below it. At times undeniably strange, veering too far into lo-fi experimentation for the sake of itself, Thee Moths are also able to sporadically make their music sound perfectly calculated in the same way the Microphones have been able to make up for their monstrous excess with moments of brilliance. A Small Glass Ghost is a complete mess for sure, but it’s very unlikely music so originally crafted could work any other way.