When Morphine burst into the wider consciousness in 1991, the trio’s two-string bass/saxophone/drums configuration seemed pretty radical. Nearly a quarter century later, it takes a good deal more to drop the jaws of modern music listeners jaded by two- and even one-person bands that feature unusual instrumentation and offer impressive results. But consider what might have happened if Morphine had carried on after the death of bassist Mark Sandman and replaced him with … another saxophonist.
Moon Hooch not only imagined it but also brought it to life on the streets and stages of New York before bringing it to the world at large.
The band coalesced in 2010 when saxophonists Wenzl McGowen and Mike Wilbur and drummer James Muschler met as students at New York’s New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music. Sharing a passion for experimentation and a determined work ethic, they street-tested their chemistry by busking in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they found an eager audience. The trio’s major exposure came shortly thereafter. The three musicians were playing on a subway platform when hundreds of music fans, taking refuge in the station after a torrential rain washed out a nearby outdoor Modest Mouse show, turned what should have been an intimate underground busk into a mosh-worthy blowout.
Moon Hooch recorded its eponymous debut in 2013 and its rigorous gigging/rehearsal regimen served the band members well. The album was recorded in a single 24-hour period, with most songs tracked in one take. The band’s national break came when former Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty caught one of its subway shows and asked the trio to join his U.S. tour. Moon Hooch signed with Hornblow/Palmetto Records, which reissued its debut with a bonus track. The band’s second album, This is Cave Music, was released last year.
Moon Hooch is the connective thread between the raw animalistic swagger honk of The Stooges’ Steve Mackay and the Punk sophistication of Morphine, projected with Jazz inflections at a Rock volume. They call it Cave Music — you might just consider it saxual healing with a stone groove.
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This article appears in Dec 30, 2015 – Jan 5, 2016.
