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Moulettes
Moulettes
Bailing The Jack
Rating: 3.2 out of 5

Link: http://www.myspace.com/moulettes

This may be the best time to get to know the Moulettes. What started out as a celloist, basoonist, and guitarist/drummer recently grew to add a violinist and percussionist. The more depth to the style of music they play the better. Fusing elements of gypsy jazz, folk, alt-rock, bluegrass, and agit-pop you can imagine what gambol this group exploits.

Although the vocals sound like Manhattan Transfer meets the Andrews Sisters, don’t let that deter you from exploring further to the post-modern sea shanty “The Cannibal Song.”

It’s a strange journey indeed as they warp their twisted minds around a neo-classical/renaissance concoction of many layered pleasures. “Requiem” is what a  jam band would sound like circa 1452, that is if you ignore an actual drum set is being used and it spins into a Balkan-like romp, but only for under a minute and then it’s off to something else, a simple aspect to the construction of the whole.

The vocals work best when they are not trying to get medieval all over their music and when they naturally let them flow, as in “Talisman,” a song that is very reminiscent of  a Momas And Papas jig until it turns into a vaudevillian romp.

The epic ending, “Going A’ Gathering,” seals the deal and is astounding as to how much musical talent this band is capable of.

It proves you really don’t know what you are going to expect, a testament to their versatility. Long-lengthed garments and wine like water, expect a wild ride through vice and virtue. Just stay away from the Broadway-esque attributes this band possesses.

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