Album Notes

Austin Chronicle
Michael Chamy
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-09-13/music_phases12.html

One good thing about the weather here: Those perfect summer albums go a long, long way. It has probably been pretty close to a perfect summer for the members of Austin's Moonlight Towers, who've sprung from out of nowhere and grabbed a piece of both the local barroom pie and the radio-ready-rock pie, even piling up some notable airplay time. Give them all the credit for putting a quality product on the shelves. As the opening harmonica lick crosses paths with the ascending Yo La Tengo riff of "Holding Back," it's immediately evident that the goal of Moonlight Towers isn't to be clever, cool, or challenging, but to comfort, caress, slap on the back, and buy a round of tall cold ones. If you find yourself in tune with the gods of eternal sunshine and cold pale ales, "Goin' for Drinks" is as great an anthem as anybody could want. It finds the Towers at their most Grand Champeen/Paul Westerberg, but has a Big Star/big rock sound that fills the stereo like a classic summer blast. It's one of at least three cuts (along with "Built to Last" and "Sixteen") that all but scream for radio play. Moonlight Towers are the equivalent of a cold, creamy vanilla malt on a hot day. If you want complexity and intrigue, go elsewhere. If you just want to blast some quality rock spiked with a double shot of sincerity and fun, get behind the Moonlight Towers. Who knows, bands like this might just make the radio a tolerable place again.