Moin – Belly Up

Moin is post-everything. Under the title Belly Up, the London trio takes us further along their uncompromising path of uplifting breakdowns on six tracks. Following their Berlin debut at Silent Green in the spring, this is the band’s fourth release in almost five years. They remain loyal to the London label AD 93 (formerly Whities).

The instrumental guest appearance of saxophonist Ben Vince draws attention right from the start. His quirky, repetitive lines give Moin – after their last, guitar-heavy post-grunge album You Never End – a new sonic layer and once again make any clear categorization difficult. Between jazzy jams and pulsating, chaos-organizing drums, Belly Up unfolds an impressive wealth of facets, but also refers to familiar Moin elements. Stirring dissonances and energetic pathos are brought to rest with the head-nodding »X.U.Y.« before the last two tracks release the listener back into the vastness of sound. »I know nothing and that’s what I really want« – this Socrates reference from the opener »See« loses its theatricality after listening to Belly Up and sums up what often happens when listening to Moin: overwhelming wordlessness.