Bee vs. Moth

Bee vs. Moth

Soundhorn (Aggraveire)

If Danny Elfman hadn't scored Forbidden Zone, Austin's Bee vs. Moth could have done a pretty good job. The horn-heavy quartet comes equipped with trumpet and vibraphone, supplanted on debut Soundhorn with Holland Hopson on soprano sax and Jerome Smith on trombone. Opener "Doom Equity" sounds as impish as anything the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo ever committed to the sixth dimension, but the band's branches in the New Music Co-op give it a distinct Texas feel: the experimental and Latin on "Moskva," Southern swamp on "Lead Foot," the toast to Ornette Coleman on "Rock & Roll Monkey Pants," romanced by a drunken midsong skronk-down. Lyrics would be too much here; Soundhorn's instrumental ups and downs (was that a bass solo?) are enough to follow on their own. Hard ear candy for your soft inner child. Can a Bee vs. Moth Saturday morning cartoon be far behind?