Every Moon Tooth song ranked
new album hype train lessgoooooo |
| 31 |  | Moon Tooth
Phototroph
31. THE CONDUIT
Love that chorus, do not love those riffs or that guitar tone. Lyrics are also surprisingly meh by Carbone standards. |
| 30 | | Moon Tooth
Phototroph
30. CARRY ME HOME
Need some more time to sit with this one, but after 6 listens: might be their weakest pop move yet and another fairly unimpressive lyric despite a VERY good verse riff |
| 29 |  | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
29. BELT SQUEEZER
Easily the messiest moment on a pretty messy album, with a wealth of great ideas and not a whole lot holding them together in a sensible shape. Gets by mostly on energy and novelty where most of the rest of the album feels much more deliberately “written” |
| 28 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
28. VESUVIUS I
The Vesuvius 2-parter is a very odd duck and the first half is the weaker half by a nose. Builds and releases in a satisfying way but the melodies never quiiite get there for me and I’ve rarely been blown away by the love-triangle thing going on in the lyrics, even if the writing is still impressive on a technical level |
| 27 |  | Moon Tooth
FREAKS
27. EBB/FLOW
‘Freaks’ gets better as it goes on, but this serves as a worthy kickoff nonetheless. Their most Ipecac Records-sounding song by far, which is very cool but not always something I’m really in the mood for |
| 26 |  | Moon Tooth
Crux
26. RHYTHM AND ROAR
‘Crux’’s slightest offering in every sense, yet still delivers a mule-kick of a main riff, a pretty great solo, and a satisfying verse melody. Falters ever-so-slightly on the chorus (againagainagainAGAINAGAINagain), and the opening stanza is very much Carbone trying to do political commentary and getting like 95 percent there- I’ve still never once reached for the skip button |
| 25 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
25. OMEGA DAYS
Classic more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts situation: nothing here is especially impressive in isolation, but it’s all so creatively and unconventionally assembled that it ends up succeeding pretty brilliantly anyway. The leadup into the last chorus from the bridge is prob what really brings it all home |
| 24 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
24. VESUVIUS II
Gets a few notches on its predecessor for having three(!) different lead vocalists and a few more fun twists n turns. Sits right at the center of my least-most-favorite stretch of ‘Chromaparagon’ and does enough right that it keeps that stretch from dragging really at all |
| 23 | | Moon Tooth
FREAKS
23. GOON
John Carbone’s tirade against toxic masculinity is fittingly ‘Freaks’’s most savage and unrelenting track, especially with Nick Lee’s vocals adding even further aggression. Points to an alternate timeline where MT became the ultimate band to punch holes in drywall to |
| 22 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
22. QUEEN WOLF
‘Chromaparagon’’s opener blows the door off its hinges with mindblowing riffing, floridly poetic lyrics, and Ray Marte’s most dynamic drumming to that point (will he top it? Read on to find out!). Maybe more a flashy statement of purpose than a great song in its own right, but it’s a pretty dazzling statement of purpose nonetheless |
| 21 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
21. MUSKETEERS
'Crux''s big intersectional-solidarity statement treads the line of eye-rolling obviousness, but the message is an important one, their conviction shows through in spades, and that triumphant chorus gets the chest a-swelling all the same. Bonus points for that heartwarming music vid |
| 20 | | Moon Tooth
FREAKS
20. STORM PILL
A brutish groove interspersed with prog look-how-tightly-we-can-play showoffs that impress just enough to not grate. Also the first inkling that maybe these guys can actually write a half-decent hook! |
| 19 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
19. RAISE A LIGHT (EPILOGUE)
Surely one of the best waltz-time metal/heavy rock tracks in living memory; ends ‘Crux’ in a thrilling whirl of overheated optimism and verve. Could the 40-odd seconds of ambience be trimmed off the end without much of value being lost? Er, sure I guess |
| 18 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
18. MOTIONLESS IN SKY
Trying to make a power ballad as proggy as possible is a dangerous game to play but these fellows are nothing if not pro gamers and the busier passages here meld acceptably with the Big! Emotional! Broad strokes! The real prize, however, is the last minute-and-a-half, featuring hella soulful belting and a hella HELLA pretty guitar solo |
| 17 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
17. FORGIVE ME SNAKE RYDER
Enjoyably punky and screamy for the first half, but the second half’s stop-start progthrash is one of ‘Chromaparagon’’s most unhinged and goofy delights. Big ups to Rice Cultivation Society frontman Derek Smith for those brilliant violin interjections |
| 16 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
16. TRUST
Possibly MT’s most even blend of pop soar and metalcore beef to date, and an excellent showcase for their talents at each. That “oooOOOOH” leading into the second verse gets my blood pumping every time. Also: gotta love that mini-solo into that horn-assisted breakdown! |
| 15 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
15. BATS IN THE ATTIC
A quick-n-dirty instrumental: headbanging goodness, drum fills aplenty, bat sound effects, great fun all-around |
| 14 | | Moon Tooth
Phototroph
14. NYMPHAEACEAE
By far the most inspired single from 'Phototroph' thus far. That anthemic chorus, that crazy riffing, those drum fills- now THIS is a fackin' moon tooth song! Also love the lyrics here- they’ll really hit home for anyone struggling to move past a challenging time in their life. Might have benefitted from a solo or something else to spice it up a smidge more on a structural level, but otherwise this delivers pretty much everything I could possibly want from this band |
| 13 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
13. THORNS
Took me a long time to decide whether the way each successive chorus here lays on additional melodies is brilliant or frustrating, but I think I’ve finally settled on brilliant. Also took a long time to come around on the more sour, tense verses, but they set up that belter of a chorus wonderfully; I’m never not completely sold on it by the end |
| 12 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
12. WHITE STAG
AKA “the long one”, a winding journey through sludgy sludge, mellow croons, and clean sparkly arpeggios all leading up to a phenomenal minute-long Nick Lee solo (perhaps still his defining moment as a guitarist). The wind-down afterwards is a mite short on surprises for still having three minutes to fill, but maybe it’s a necessary moment of respite to process what you’ve just experienced? |
| 11 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
11. AWE AT ALL ANGLES
It’s easy to see why this one caught on with the mainstream rock set- VERY accessible but accessibility ain’t a bad thing! A catchy cheese chorus done right, “I’m a g-g-g-GODdamn… CO-O-O-O-NDUIIIIIIT”, and a speedy shreddy classic rock-type solo, PLUS a healthy dose of their usual trademark noodly heaviness. How to go pop without watering yourself down |
| 10 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
10. IGNEOUS
A mutant blues-metal rager you can shake your booty to, and a real everything-and-the-kitchen-sink moment that still manages a stunning level of cohesion. Doomy riffs, jammin’ organ, a slide guitar break, man this one is a boatloat of fun and that guitar tone is MASSIVE. Also a great summation of Carbone’s lyrical preoccupations: wild animals as metaphors for freedom, fire imagery, tension between internal confidence and external adversity etc etc etc |
| 9 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
9. OFFERED BLOOD
Whew we’re starting to get to the point where it's a fool's errand to try and separate my personal emotional investment in these songs (ohhhh man this went the fuck OFF live) with any broadly meaningful analysis (this is the exact kind of song that can and will go the fuck OFF live). Seems to breathe and move with a life of its own, easing back and surging forth effortlessly despite all the skull-rattling math metal change-ups. How tf does a spoken-word break in a prog song work at ALL, let alone this well |
| 8 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
8. CRUX
‘Crux’’s penultimate title track brings the house down with their most thunderous ballad yet, one last trial to weather before “Raise a Light” ends things on a hard-won note of positivity. Mines a good deal of its drama from an eye-popping change-up around the three-minute mark, when it drops those twinklin’ arpeggios in favor of a harrowing METALLLLLLLL slugfest featuring an impressively beastly Nick Lee vocal. On its own it’s merely stunning; in the scope of the album it’s a sobering suggestion that pursuing self-actualization may eventually require you to abandon an essential piece of your humanity. The album’s heaviest moment, indeed |
| 7 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
7. CHROMA
'Chromaparagon' is at its best when it strikes a balance between cathartic melodicism and totally idiosyncratic, sludgy weirdness, and this is one of the best examples of such a balance. The vocals here are almost pure pop, but the filthy distorted chug underpinning them keeps a healthy amount of grit in the proceedings, and even when it gets even freakier and abstract-er towards the end, the guitar work remains as exciting and colorful as any 60s psych classic |
| 6 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
6. LITTLE WITCH
The doomy opening riff here amounts to little more than impish misdirection- Moon Tooth's only entirely Nick Lee-fronted track finds them at their sprightliest and most carefree, almost bordering into pop-punk territory at points. It's also one of Ray Marte’s most impressive performances across 'Chromaparagon', nimbly blazing through herky-jerk verses and head-bobbing choruses alike |
| 5 |  | Moon Tooth
Violent Grief: Acoustic Selections
5. SIX OF SWORDS
The lone original from the 'Violent Grief' EP, this one's a subtle stunner that can smolder and simmer with the best of 'em. The production is gorgeous, the lyrics are moving, and Carbone's vocal performance ranks among his very best. A tantalizing taste of what a rootsier, mellower incarnation of this band might look like- I'm officially hungry for more |
| 4 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
4. THUMB SPIKE
Their bangerest banger to date, expertly pivoting back and forth from groovy and melodic rock to utterly rabid and equally-melodic thrash. Plus that facemelting guitar break? PLUS the half-time breakdown at the end? PLUS PLUS the little sound effects and harmonies sprinkled throughout? Hot diggity this one's a scorcher |
| 3 | | Moon Tooth
Chromaparagon
3. DEATH AND THE VIBRANT ARCHITECTURE OF REBIRTH
In my eyes, this fulfills every promise made by "Queen Wolf" and then some- that Moon Tooth's ferocious chops can be leashed by gratifying rock songwriting, that their beat-poetry lyricism is rooted in potent imagery and thematic depth rather than oblique pretension, and that their aggression and their abstrusity can work in tandem to surprise and invigorate the senses. The barrelling groove here is endlessly limber and ornate, yes, but check the outro, where it curdles and gnarls into pure doom-psych mayhem. What a moment. What a band. |
| 2 | | Moon Tooth
FREAKS
2. SILVER GALLOWS
This was my favorite song for a good couple years, and the first song I loved so much I deliberately rationed my listens so I wouldn’t run the risk of overplaying it. A haunting suicide fantasy(?) fueled by frantic, muscular math-rock that leaves the rest of the ‘Freaks’ EP in the dust in terms of both melody and technicality. I will now transcribe one of the most spine-chillingly beautiful choruses I have encountered to date: “You’ll watch my body twist and turn with eyes of light / I never gave you in life / And all the mournful gather ‘round / this silver noose / I hang from still” |
| 1 | | Moon Tooth
Crux
1. THROUGH ASH
Never allowed myself to believe they could top "Silver Gallows"- and YET! Primarily it’s a vehicle for John Carbone’s most stunning and powerful lyricism to date, but fuck if the rest of the band doesn’t make that vehicle purr and rumble like a tricked-out dragster. The moment the guitar/bass groove locks in? Very possibly the most gut-level satisfying moment in all of rock music. Back to those lyrics; trial-by-fire (even literally) is as well-worn as tropes come, and this song breathes new life into it with absolute aplomb. It sounds like the screaming agony of walking over coals AND the teeth-gritted determination of something you can’t live without being on the other side of those coals. That closing howl of “AND I SHALL BUUUUUUUUURN” makes me wanna explode out of my skin in the absolute best way. Not enough compliments in the world for this one |
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