"I don't know how to get our music across on CD as energetically as we are live," laments guitarist/co-vocalist Kenny Bridges, on the daunting task of encapsulating the energy, mania and self-contained violence of a Moneen live show on an inanimate circle of plastic. This may be in the public's best interest the thought of CD players everywhere running amok to the incongruent sounds of emo rock is one better left to Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive. Hailing from the suburban wasteland of Brampton, ON, Moneen (rounded out by Chris Hughes, guitar/vocals, Peter Krpan, drums and Chris Slorach, bass/vocals) has come further in the course of a year-and-a-half than most Canadian bands do in a lifetime.
In their brief existence, Moneen has toured Canada repeatedly (establishing their daunting live reputation), signed with Smallman Records, who released their first EP (Smaller Chairs for the 1900s) and are now set to exceed all expectations with the release of their first full-length, The Theory of Harmonial Value. This new album is the closest Moneen has come to capturing their defining live energy on disc, yet manages to branch out in new, unorthodox directions; adding elements of noise, psychedelic space rock and the vaunted four-part, Pet Sounds vocal harmony to their patented emo rock repertoire.
Still, for Kenny and Moneen, as proud as they are of The Theory of Harmonial Value, it's all about playing live. "We come across more honest when we play live," comments Kenny. "The Moneen live show is just four losers having the best time of their lives, just doing the stupidest things that if you did it on the street you'd probably get arrested for. On CD, you'll get the pure wussie vocals where girls will go, Oh, that guy has had such a bad life.' Live, it's all about extreme: We were sad, but now we're angry and we're going to kill you; we'll just destroy the world," laughs Kenny. "The CDs are pretty good and the songs, I love the songs, they're catchy, but we can take the songs that aren't as powerful on CD and maybe kind of give er, we can change them live and make them rock out or do different things. The thing is, it's so funny" Kenny laughs, "we could release the worst CD ever and as long as we play live and break things, people will forget about how bad it is."
In their brief existence, Moneen has toured Canada repeatedly (establishing their daunting live reputation), signed with Smallman Records, who released their first EP (Smaller Chairs for the 1900s) and are now set to exceed all expectations with the release of their first full-length, The Theory of Harmonial Value. This new album is the closest Moneen has come to capturing their defining live energy on disc, yet manages to branch out in new, unorthodox directions; adding elements of noise, psychedelic space rock and the vaunted four-part, Pet Sounds vocal harmony to their patented emo rock repertoire.
Still, for Kenny and Moneen, as proud as they are of The Theory of Harmonial Value, it's all about playing live. "We come across more honest when we play live," comments Kenny. "The Moneen live show is just four losers having the best time of their lives, just doing the stupidest things that if you did it on the street you'd probably get arrested for. On CD, you'll get the pure wussie vocals where girls will go, Oh, that guy has had such a bad life.' Live, it's all about extreme: We were sad, but now we're angry and we're going to kill you; we'll just destroy the world," laughs Kenny. "The CDs are pretty good and the songs, I love the songs, they're catchy, but we can take the songs that aren't as powerful on CD and maybe kind of give er, we can change them live and make them rock out or do different things. The thing is, it's so funny" Kenny laughs, "we could release the worst CD ever and as long as we play live and break things, people will forget about how bad it is."