It is my contention that Quebec is disproportionately spoiled for musical talent due in no small part to its quality institutions; countless festivals in which artists further their emerging careers; and the unique fervor with which the Quebecois support the continuance of said careers. Because of these unique circumstances, Quebec has created a somewhat distinct music industry inside a larger Canadian one. This is especially the case when it comes to francophone music. We would do well to remember, however, that Quebec is not, nor has it ever been the sole contributor to the francophone arts in Canada. Thankfully, Les Moontunes serve as an occasionally needed slap in the face to recall the talents of Acadia.
This all-Acadian septet is a dynamic and heavy jam band that incorporates elements of stoner metal, prog rock, soul, hip hop, and jazz. Armed with two drummers, bass, guitar, keyboard, horns, and vocals, Les Moontunes are well equipped to melt faces even through laptop speakers. Lyrically, the band explores themes of space travel, mages, and other H.P Lovecraft adjacent themes. In addition, some songs across their discography contain dedicated sections of French language rap. If all this sounds maximalist to you, that’s because it is. Frankly, the multitude of genres they’re able to use in their sound without reducing each element to a worse version of itself is impressive. It’s exactly what a fusion band should strive for.
Elephant Wizard is the band’s latest album and their sophomore release. (I am not counting their live album released the same year as their debut). Notably, the lyrics are all anglo this time around but as someone familiar with New Brunswick culture, I can tell you that the choice to use French or English at any given moment is almost always a benign one. (Spend an afternoon in Moncton sometime if you don’t believe me).
Musically, Elephant Wizard takes us to many places. There are shades of King Crimson and Pink Floyd in their title track complete with distorted saxophone à la “21st Century Schizoid Man” and a bass line resembling “Money.” Slightly more robotesque is “Enchanted Tusk,” where Miguel Dumaine makes use of a vocoder to relay the beauty of galactic ivory and create a melody which is mostly a repeated A flat. Contrasting tempo changes break up the song before a heavy metal style guitar solo shreds overtop the rest of the band. “Gallop in the Jungle,” on the other hand, gave me impressions of King Gizzard’s “Rattlesnake” but decidedly more metal.
It should be said that the heaviness is largely due to drummers Marc-Andre Richard and Martin Daigle. They play simultaneously to provide exactly what the music needs without getting in each other’s way. Daigle also happens to be a doctoral candidate at McGill but, by the sounds of it, not one who long ago neglected his playing skills for the sake of research.
Contrasting the heavier moments of the album are tunes like “Midnight Magic” which is an instrumental selection resembling a modern jazz ballad. It features a more subtle solo from the trumpet provided by Monica Ouellette. “Dorian Sunrise,” likewise provides a break from the face melting in favour of something resembling a cosmic and breezy Carlos Santana song. There are other observations I wished to include in this article that will have to remain unsaid for now but in short, Les Moontunes continue to ambitiously fuse their many influences into a sound of their own. Crucially, with good execution. I’m curious to see what direction they take in the future with so many musical influences; but I’m sure that if they take the time to plan out their production, it shouldn’t be any worse than their first two offerings. Go check them out.
