For Fans Of: Tame Impala, Fleetwood Mac, Sundara Karma
Minnesota’s Night Moves describe their music as “cosmic tinged twang space rock disco pop sludge”, and even that doesn’t fully do their eclectic sound justice. Frontmen and founding members John Pelant (guitar, vocals) and Micky Alfano (bass) met in high school around 2004 before completing the quirky Midwestern four-piece six years later. As youngsters, they were awestruck by such ear-candy wizards as Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham. So, what else should they do than craft their own version of what they believed sophisticated, emotional modern pop music can and should sound like?
Their debut album Colored Emotions was released for free via Bandcamp in 2011 and subsequently spread like wildfire. After causing a stir in their local Minneapolis scene, Sony subsidiary Domino Records (Arctic Monkeys, Fat White Family, Superorganism) signed them and rereleased the dreamy collection a year later. It received grand support from critics too, with The Guardian‘s only complaint being that it wasn’t long enough…
They followed up this success with their highly anticipated second album Pennied Days in 2016; a release which The Huffington Post named “one of the best albums you’ve never heard”. One of its lead singles ‘Carl Sagan’ became their breakthrough track as it still stands as one of their top tracks on Spotify with over 5 million plays. Produced by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, The Walkmen), it was praised for its nostalgic sound. It is also full of anthems inspired by the biggest names in Americana rock n roll: Tom Petty, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen and of course Bob Seger, whose album the band are named after.
This June, they released their progressive third album Can You Really Find Me, which was rated 8/10 by the likes of The Line of Best Fit, Exclaim! and Mystic Sons. It pulsates and glows with the same sublime energy that radiated from their earlier releases, however in the intervening years, its clear they’ve grown up. The songwriting, while still steeped in super-catchy, velvety riffs and pure pop glaze, feels more sophisticated and modern. After spending the subsequent two years on the record, they’ve scaled new heights, where the sounds are still just as sweet, but now smarter, more evocative, and perfectly designed for a summer release.
Website – nightmovesmpls.com
Facebook – /NightMovesMPLS
Twitter – @NIGHTMOVESMPLS