by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
Moth is the creative project of Darcy Berry, known for his punchy drumming in Melbourne’s strikingly different but equally excellent Gonzo and U-Bahn. Moth became known for their chaotic live performances around Melbourne, Berry fleshing out the bare bones of the project with talent from bands such as Alien Nosejob and Body Maintenance, but enough of the pull and dynamism remains on this new record. Machine Nation was released via Marthouse Records and a European release via Polaks Records is also coming soon.
Where Sonic Youth imagined us as a ‘Daydream Nation’ on the cusp of the ‘90s, Moth sees the ‘Machine Nation’ now: we’re still disillusioned, Berry says, but under a different and more all-encompassing digital spell. Moth released a demo last year with similar ideas on its mind - song titles included “Modern Madness” and “Digital Crisis” - and it’s clear that Berry is an artist with a clear idea of what he wants to shout about.
Four tracks, barely reaching ten minutes. It’s a quick but haywire ride, with Moth creating music that strives for and stays on the edge. Moth know we’re living in a digital dystopia, or are at least on our way to one; the dissonance and motorik drone they conjure is merely a reflection of this. One constantly feels a pervading paranoia when listening to Machine Nation, as each track thrusts swiftly past our awareness.
“Ritual” immediately shackles us to its abrasive and repetitive rhythm as Berry rails against our soulless modern ways of living; we are conditioned to receive our digitized waves of consumerism and to be overcome by it, and Moth have found its sonic essence. “Jealousy” features the vocals of Veeka Nazarova (from the great fuzz-pop Melburnians Kosmetika) as she delivers a hardened and stringent monologue about the perils of being envious of someone else’s success or happiness, sung in her native Russian. Her magnetic vocals swirl around the pulsating synthesizers to create a darkened maelstrom of post-punk.
The last song is called “Indulgence Indeed” but this accusation could never be leveled at Moth. The EP is - in the best possible sense - bare and austere, better to emphasize Berry’s thoughts on our modern societal woes. The rattling guitars cut through each song, providing a consistency of haphazard noise. As Berry can be heard to say amidst the robotic thrash of “2012,” “constant repeat”.