Moonlandingz’ northern disco side line
Who They?
This exciting new trio is made up of Dean Honer of I Monster and All Seeing I, Adrian Flanagan of Eccentronic Research Council, who have previously been fêted for their Suicide/Motown/Velvets/Wall of Sound sound clash outfit Moonlandingz (with Fat White Family’s Lias Saoudi), and Leonore Wheatley, who sometimes sings for The Soundcarriers and Manc psyche sorts Whyte Horses. This throw of the musical dice for these seasoned gamers looks another winner.
Why International Teachers Of Pop?
Check the heritage, check the band name, and then check the single, ‘Age Of The Train’. It’s all parallel tracks of influences, from Kraftwerk with its blipping synths, Pet Shop Boys in its distorted echo of the bass line of ‘West End Girls’, and, yes, 5th Dimension’s ‘The Age Of Aquarius’ with the lush layering of Wheatley’s crystal clear voice.
Tell Us More…
“Having been a perpetual passenger, spending hours and money on our beloved rail service,” says Wheatley of the song’s subject matter, “now is the time to recognise and renationalise. Try and dissolve some of the stresses of not managing to escape your city for even just a day without feeling some kind of dread.”
Of course, the 1980s TV ad campaign for the then-nationalised British Rail, whose tagline was ‘The Age Of The Train’, was fronted by Radio 1 DJ and monster Jimmy Savile. The phrase is etched into our memories, voiced by Savile with his bulging-eyed weirdness. But perhaps that particular sense of dread wasn’t on their minds at all.
‘Age Of The Train’ is out on Desolate Spools/Republic Of Music
