Sixteen Deluxe
The Moonman Is Blue (Sugar Fix)
Mankind has still not understood time. Does the theory of relativity really explain how one moment can last a lifetime? How a lifetime can seem like minutes? The way 2:45 on a beat-up vinyl 45 can stop time? Afraid not. Can scientists explain why the boys and girls in Sixteen Deluxe have finally followed up their sizzling major-label debut Emits Showers of Sparks with an 18-minute indie EP? Having seen their sole Warner Bros. album come out nearly two years ago already, January 1998, the Austin quartet’s new release arrives in stores Tuesday feeling long overdue. Recorded in the band’s South Austin studio — built with a severance-of-contract settlement from the label — The Moonman Is Blue defies corporate and conventional marketing wisdom (“Who buys EPs?!?”) and succeeds in being well worth the wait. A teaser for an upcoming full-length on the band’s own Figure Eight label (in partnership with L.A.’s Sugar Fix Records), six tracks and 18 minutes flash by in the blink of an eye, but are a fantastic journey nonetheless — 3/5 mile in 10 seconds. “Sibhashian” opens with a typically gleeful burst of psychedelia, a big, woozy riff falling into a warm, familiar pool of Eno-esque Jacuzzi jets and ending with prerequisite backfeedmagnetbabe. “Over and Over” locks down the trademark 16D sound, a storm of chaos swirling around steel-girder hooks and melodies, while Carrie Clark’s dreamy, processed vocals beckon from the eye of the hurricane. “The 1st Go-Round” lurches around in a vaguely Ed Hallian fashion, while closer “At the Fallout” grins like a cracked mirror. Not counting two short instrumental connectors, there are actually only four songs on The Moonman Is Blue, but who’s counting when you’re having a good time?
This article appears in Carol Keeton Rylander.
