Melbourne rockers Moonshifter have been on the scene a few years now but this is their full length debut, and the wonderfully titled ‘Love, Lust, Fire, Dust’ is well worth the wait especially if you can imagine the bastard son of AC/DC and KISS frequenting your local bar and injecting some well-considered modern touches along the way.
If you like your albums direct and rocking from the off then this starts out with some more than decent opening shots – ‘Dirty Mind’ cries out dirty Aussie Pub Rock, and is ably followed by ‘I Am Yours, You Are Mine’ which really showcases some fine vocals atop a fine riff and a cool 70’s vibe. It’s track 3 ‘Mountain’ though that shows some variety and a chance of stance – it’s a great fits n the air rocker and talks of getting out and hitting the road. After those three you should be itching for more…
And what you get is more of a sonically mixed bag than you might expect, though the quality is consistently high – there’s first of all the upbeat more contemporary feel to ‘ Leave You Baby’, before the ballad ‘I Keep This Light’ sows more than a few tricks, it’s a confident song, lush and passionate and to be honest really switches up a notch, it’s a song that also managed to lodge in my head for days afterwards.
Half way in you know you’ve found another great band and ‘So Much More’ just underlines that – like it’s softer predecessor it’s a song you’ll be humming along to days later, and that vibe is kept alive for ‘Burnin’ Alive’ though the resulting sound is heavier and meatier and certainly one of my favourites here.
The album rounds out just as satisfyingly with the upbeat ‘Oh Emily’; the loose and lively ‘Let You Down’ and the satisfyingly heavy stomp of ‘You Feel It’ all bringing something a little different to the party. Some might say though that the best is saved for last as the hard rocking party starts on ‘Ride’ a song that sums it all up really – hard rock sounds from the 70’s and 80’s seen through the eyes of a young contemporary band. It’s a sure fire winner and this is an album that will certainly bring Moonshifter some attention internationally. Great work guys.