Melbourne quartet Monnone Alone release their first album in six years today!
Since 2013’s Together at Last, Monnone Alone have refined and cultivated their sound, mixing indie pop and classic rock and are thrilled to for the long-awaited second album to be out in the world via indie label Lost and Lonesome on Friday 10 May.
Having toured Together at Last through the US and Europe on a rotating lineup, Mark Monnone got working back at home to solidify the group’s membership. Drawing upon some of his favourite local bands, he enlisted players Joe Foley (Aleks & the Ramps) on bass, Louis Richter (Mid-State Orange) on guitar and Gus Franklin (Architecture in Helsinki, The Smallgoods) who returns to the throne having played the drums on – and co-produced – the first album. With a newly cemented lineup, Monnone Alone have spent the last few years caressing their new vibe and preparing to share it with the world.
Recorded and mixed by Melbourne-based Welsh producer Gareth Parton (Foals, Big Scary), with assistance from drummer Gus Franklin, Summer of the Mosquito is a big ol’ sun-smooch from a Melbourne band in no hurry to be anywhere but right here right now, and a songwriter happy to glimpse back briefly before being swept forward in life’s inevitable undertow.
STREAM SUMMER OF THE MOSQUITO HERE
Firing out of the blocks with a formidable tail-wind ‘Summer of the Mosquito‘ is the titular opening track and latest single from the soon to be released LP. The band work up a vigorous power-pop lather, complete with jangling 12-string guitar and layered voices evoking a time long-gone but, as the song’s lyrics suggest, far from forgotten. Roll the windows down for this one, friend… “let’s do it again!”
The album is a sweet ‘n’ salty bike ride through the dizzying heights and gutter-scouring lows of summers past, an adventure through Monnone’s many and varied milieux, as mystifying as they may sometimes seem. First single ‘Cut Knuckle’ lays bare the singer’s quest for clarity among the clutter – “I’m glad to hear that you could see what I’m trying to say” sings Monnone on the snappy indiepop banger which is a loaded amalgamation of the group’s stylistic influences from Hoodoo Gurus to The Kinks, The Chills to Television Personalities.
On ‘Feeling Together Feels Alright‘ the band channel the frayed trims and big pop feels of The Pastels and Pavement and take a slight detour via Lou Reed’s Coney Island Baby on ‘Strollers’; both songs bearing passing reference to Monnone‘s own baby, born during the writing process for the album and marking the singer’s first foray into parenthood. Now let’s talk classic rock – the sun-frazzled psy-folk of ‘Jerry’s Can’ owes its backstory to a visit to a friend in a Californian rehab facility and unexpectedly coming face to face with Jerry Garcia’s deathbed.
The album seamlessly flows through other hindsight highlights – ‘I Wanna Hide in Yesterday’, ‘The Dystopian Days of Yore’, ‘Tumble Downs’ – all before coming to a head at ‘Do It Twice’ the album’s second single and rollicking mid-life singalong.
As Jonathan Richman once (or twice) famously lamented: “that summer feeling is gonna haunt you one day in your life”. For Monnone Alone, that day has arrived and here it is for all to hear!
Tour DatesSummer of The Mosquito
Friday 10 May – Polyester Records instore, Melbourne
Free entry, all ages welcome
6pm
Friday 17 May – Vinnie’s Dive, Gold Coast QLD
w/ EchoWave + Bumspa
8pm
Saturday 18 May – Sonic Sherpa Records instore, Brisbane QLD
Free entry, all ages welcome
1pm
Saturday 18 May – Netherworld, Brisbane QLD
w/ Dumb Things + Greg Brady & the Anchors
Free entry
8pm
Saturday 25 May – Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine VIC
w/ Truffle Pigs (Steph and Al from Dick Diver) + The Steinbecks
Friday 31 May – The Tote, Melbourne Vic
w/ Swim Team, Lachlan Denton & Studio Magic + The Bush
Saturday 1 June – The Jade, Adelaide SA
w/ TBA
All show and ticket details via:
www.facebook.com/MonnoneAlone
Summer of the Mosquito on Bandcamp – lostandlonesome.bandcamp
“The former Lucksmith is back with a new single, and yet more evidence that we should all pack up and move down under where everybody is so much cooler.” – Austin Town Hall
“Cut Knuckle,” a gorgeously catchy jangler filled with 12-string strums and a chorus that seems ready to poke through the sky.” – Raven Sings The Blues
