Zeelley Moon’s self-titled album manages to circle the prog-rock (sometimes difficult) square with a melodic, adventurous pop-rock sound that enjoyed its moment of fame in the late ’70s—just before punk hit hard and consumed all the press.
In truth, this is piano-driven, clever song-orientated music, with glances at bands like Supertramp, 10cc, Klaatu (circa the album Hope), Crack the Sky, and England’s Garden Shed. Yet it flows with ample and, at times, just plain gorgeous instrumental passages that touch the sublime cosmic melodic conscience of Pink Floyd.
Zeelley Moon is the brain child of singer-songwriter and pianist Patrick Molesworth, who is assisted by the Zeelley Moon Band: Tony Dubinski and Geoff Bolan contribute sublime guitar work; and the engine room is propelled by Tony Dodd on bass, with Nobby Birch, Mike Bennett, and Manna Ash on percussion.
The first instrumental, “Itchy Feet,” simply rocks with the percussion and the piano gusto of Billy Joel, Elton John or, because I’m a huge Guess Who fan, Burton Cummings. And there’s a really nice electric guitar in there, too. Granted, this isn’t Emerson Lake and Palmer’s Tarkus, with its 5/4 musical time signature, but it’s still pretty cool.
Then, the throttle opens: Zeelley Moon’s seven-minute “Smile” simply stretches rock ‘n’ roll into thoughtful and melodic passion, with an ephemeral guitar solo that dances under several midwinter constellations. There’s a slight echo (no pun intended) of Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Then “Tricks and Tragedy” gets piano prog rocking until it dips into drama to explore the warm coat of celestial keyboard orbital bliss. Then the tune re-enters the splashdown rock world with a clever and catchy jukebox cheap day return melody.
This is, (and excuse the oxymoron!) quite lovable prog rock. “The Tick Tock” has the jaunty appeal of Genesis’ “Harold the Barrel” from 1971’s Nursery Cryme and adds a seesaw guitar sound into the mix. And the ghost of Supertramp’s “The Logical Song” lingers in the melody. Not only that, but the song also conjures the post-punk punch of Swindon’s finest-ever band, XTC.
Ditto for “See Me Fly,” which is yet another piano-graced and guitar-punctuated (sort of weird) pop quickstep tune. “Weight of the World” gives a quiet Hubble telescope glimpse in to inner space and evolves into yet another really nice pop pulse. And “Designer Crime” gets a bit keyboard funky, but then the vocals touch the soulful sound of Peter Green and his original bluesy Fleetwood Mac, and the guitar burns with the deep-soul salvation bite of Paul Kossoff and his Backstreet Crawler. Big compliment, there!
Just so you know, there are countless bits of found sound (bird tweets and children laughing, et al) that permeate Zeelley Moon. But, thankfully, no one gets a “short, sharp shove.” As said, this is prog rock that manages to create a joyous circle out of prog rock’s (sometimes) square-peg ethos. In contrast, “Living by the Water” is west-coast “California Dreaming” relaxed and reclusive beach rock. And, perhaps, the rejuvenated David Crosby could have written the tune. It’s that good. “Feel So Real” has an urgent and earthy vocal, while the guitar and organ offer patience prayers to an ethereal blues heaven.
Zeelley Moon’s final tune, the eight-minute “Out of the Blue,” is a big cinematic song that simply looks at the sunset with a pensive vocal and languid guitar. This one slowly sinks, with true prog-epic tranquility, into the western horizon of the final grooves of very sandy and very melodic shore. Indeed, every water’s wave, with pop, rock and prog intent, flows into Zeelley Moon’s music, somehow managing to add the mystery of any circle into all the tough squares of this delightfully odd and, thankfully, quite vibrant music.
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