Moneen – The World I Want To Leave Behind

by Evan on November 9th, 2009

Moneen – The World I Want To Leave Behind
September 15th, 2009
Dine Alone Records
Score: 8.2

Reinventing themselves almost seems cliché now for Brampton, Ontario natives Moneen. The band has gone from tearing-the-house-apart up-tempo punk to slow, lyrically significant and musically fluid in two albums. But once again, Moneen has adapted, transformed, and most importantly, grown for their new album, The World I Want To Leave Behind. Unlike any previous Moneen project, this CD mixes the more lyrically expressive and clean vocal stylings of The Red Tree with the harder, quick-paced elements reminiscent of Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now?, forming a hybrid that feels completely novel. The album radiates a sort of emotional sensation, as if you can feel the band’s effort and contentment with every song. It also emanates a simplicity uncharacteristic of Moneen, mirrored in the simple one-or-two-word song titles, a total reversal from past tracks sporting titles which would be too long to tweet. While not all new elements might mesh well with the album, like the orchestral backing on ‘The Way’, Moneen caters to all their fans, and offer an album so varied it might be an insurmountable challenge to place it in a single genre. Highlights are the title track and album opener ‘The World I Want To Leave Behind’ which starts calmly but really takes off heavily — bringing back the old Moneenian urge to break something in your room — as well as the uplifting ‘Great Escape’, which shows off the guitar layering the band executes so well. Buy the album, turn it up, and crack a smile as Moneen walks you through what it means to evolve as an artist.

Evan LePage

Myspace