Underneath This Tree
Self-Released
Street Date: 08.03.12
Mike Moran = L’Anarchiste + Pinback
This album from local musician Mike Moran contains a dense amount of indie/folk instrumentation, but Moran’s great attention to detail seems to do a disservice to his songs. Along with the thin, distorted vocals, there are a lot of small accents mixed throughout each song, such as guitar noodling, which add some different flavors to the songs, but fail to catch your ears overall. The majority of the tunes lack a sense of direction, and come off a bit dull. This album would likely sound better stripped down, without all of the shiny and polished effects, as well as with some more emotion from Moran’s singing. However, despite what it lacks, Underneath This Tree does manage to show off Moran’s songwriting ability