Being told a band consists of only two members leads to a wave of apprehension on my part. For it’s very hard to find an original angle within the one guitar/one drum kit formula that doesn’t just poorly replicate The White Stripes or Death From Above 1979. For this reason I approached Man of Moon reluctantly, but these doubts were quickly put to rest though after listening to double A-side The Road/This World and recent EP Medicine. Both releases exhibit dark, intelligent spaced-out rock normally reserved for veterans of the circuit; not two assuming teenagers from the outskirts of Edinburgh. “I like The White Stripes, but we’re in no way influenced by them,” said guitarist Chris Bainbridge. He wasn’t just paying lip service.

However, it’s one thing to sound good in the studio and another transferring it to a live setting. Man of Moon go one better and create an intense, atmospheric environment that enhances each of their carefully crafted compositions and makes for an enthralling spectacle. With the likes of Mogwai, Neu! and Can as cited influences the pair have a distinct relationship to krautrock; transporting Friday’s audience on a journey that saw them nod in time with each motoric pulse, as if it carried some medicinal benefit.

After blowing the city away at two Great Escape shows in May, this marked the band’s first headline show in Brighton to a crowd that gradually filled out as the gig progressed. “Until recently we were still trying to figure out what kind of music we wanted to make but now I feel we are very clear,” drummer Mikey Reid recently explained, and you feel as if this is a band now truly comfortable within the sonic framework they have enclosed themselves in.

A deep synthetic reverberation from Reid’s drum pad initiates proceedings and attacks each of the senses before an untitled intro morphs into ‘I Run’, which uses the E-string an octave down to form a murky, atmospheric soundscape: “You know I choose to drink the sea water/ As it clears out my sour head,” croons Bainbridge. Crowd interaction is then kept to a minimum throughout with the band filling in the gaps with feedback, delay, darkened synth and sporadic hi-hat crashes.

The innate chemistry Bainbridge and Reid hold together is a site to behold and their brand of droney kraut-psych is unique within the current musical landscape. Climaxing with their two well known songs ‘The Road’ and ‘Sign’, they choose subtlety and space over power and speed in their arrangements which evokes a multitude of raw emotions. The superior quality of their musicianship dictates that they’ll be playing larger venues in the near future.
Paul Hill