Review Summary: The Pillows' debut full-length album is also probably their weirdest.
For fans introduced to The Pillows through their popular, late-90s alt-rock albums, listening to Moon Gold for the first time can be a jarring experience, to say the least. At first glance, they’re barely identifiable as the same band: The Pillows are best known for making crunchy, melodic alt-rock in the vein of artists like Weezer or Pixies, but these influences are completely absent from Moon Gold, which is an unabashed pop album totally devoid of the grungy sound making waves in America around the same time.
Opening track Kimi ga Iru (I Want You) is straightforward enough, aside from Sawao Yamanaka’s vocals. Technically, he's not as good of a singer early on, but his voice is so different as to be almost unrecognizable as the same singer from albums like Happy Bivouac or My Foot. There’s no trace of grunge crunchiness in the guitars, either – Yoshiaki Manabe’s playing is clean and springy, with hints of rockabilly influence.
But lest you think The Pillows started out as a complete pop band, This Is My Fashion hurls Moon Gold’s first pitch of weirdness at the listener’s ears. It’s a manic song that fails at being punk rock, an endearingly nerdy non-anthem that makes this reviewer think that in 1991, The Pillows actually had no idea what their musical style (or audience) was supposed to be. This should be a positive since Moon Gold doesn’t quite sound like anything else before or since, but the songwriting just isn’t strong enough to make up for the originality Moon Gold encompasses.
I Need Somebody is a warbling tune that features Sawao’s goofy singing front and center, and three songs into the album, the most conspicuous difference is how toned-down Manabe’s guitar playing sounds compared to the Pantomime and 90s My Life EPs. Interestingly, Moon Good is completely absent of any reggae influence seen in those same releases, suggesting that producer Ryomei Shirai (of The Moon Riders) had him tone it down. This isn’t really a positive considering Manabe’s massive contribution to the band’s sound – even his Johnny Marr-esque jangly guitar playing is absent from Moon Gold, replaced with heavily-processed sounds and too much flanger and chorus.
Dear, My ‘First’ Step is the first song on Moon Gold to dial down The Pillows’ ebullience, and it might be the best track on the album, with an incredible pre-chorus that surely ranks among The Pillows’ most underrated moments. Lest you think that The Pillows are ready to settle into a more conventional sound, the next two tracks swagger forth with even more weirdness. I Feel Like It’s Gonna Rain is surely one of the most bizarre songs The Pillows have ever written, with its odd guitar tones and Sawao’s strange vocals, while If You Sing In The Rain feels like the band is trying to write a Beatles-esque sixties throwback single – though it comes across more like a strange children’s song, with its sing-songy guitar riffs and chorus.
Moon Gold succeeds despite its flaws because The Pillows play seemingly ridiculous songs with so much enthusiasm that it’s hard not to admire their tenacity. Who else would write a song called “Kiss Me Baby” with a screaming arena-rock guitar solo in the middle? Hello Girl is the closest thing to a conventionally pretty ballad that Moon Gold offers, with some great acoustic guitar playing from Manabe. This is a song that could really benefit from a new interpretation, as Sawao’s vocals sound weak and uneven in comparison to his later work.
I Want To Return There and Want To Sleep For bring back a hint of rockabilly influence and sound suitably goofy; it’s hard to imagine that anyone who listened to Moon Gold upon its release could have anticipated that The Pillows would be around for over twenty-five years and undergo a few dramatic stylistic shift. I wouldn’t blame anyone who couldn’t take The Pillows seriously at this point, but Moon Gold saves its best for last with Goodbye, Third Planet. It’s the closest thing to an epic track the album offers, and hints at the grandiose rock songs The Pillows will produce later in their career. But it’s an amazing song in its own right, and shows that Sawao and his bandmates are at their best when making heartfelt, emotional statements. At this stage, they just haven’t perfected their formula yet.
Oddly, Moon Gold is afflicted by some of the same creative missteps that start to affect the band ten or fifteen years after its release: goofy songs that are energetic but lacking substance. Moon Gold is to The Pillows’ early career what Penalty Life was to their later music: an interesting experiment that unfortunately doesn’t always work. There are a few very strong tracks on the album, but to hear The Pillows’ early era at its best, listeners are much better advised to check out White Incarnation, an album that’s superior in every way, and which ranks as one of their all-time best albums.
