Review Summary: Please don't let this album be lost in time.
It is a true shame that Apollo disbanded a few months after the release of We Must Be Feeling the Full Moon. The North Bend, Oregon post-hardcore group could have gone ahead to do even greater things.
This is the time for me to pour my heart out about just what exactly this album makes me feel. Having first listened to it at the age of 15, when both the record and I were quite young, I came to think that it was just teenage angst that engendered my fondness for it. After all, it's an earnest, wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve-type record (that expression being mentioned in one of the very songs). Sam Duell's singing is plaintive, occasionally pained, and not off-the-mark for standard post-hardcore vocal styles. On paper, this is a combination of elements that suggests cheesiness, genericity.
But holy. I can't even begin to capture in writing the sheer emotive power that We Must Be Feeling the Full Moon has. Starting from "Hollow Body", it just comes at full blast with chords and riffs that can only be described as shockingly beautiful. To me, they seem atypically harmonious; melodies also flow rather elegantly, such as on the graceful sections of "Into The Heat", "Morning Tide", and "Split the Sin". Apollo's integration of time signature shifts and sudden tempo changes is well-done, never at a moment seeming jarring or disconnected. The result is that every song is impactful, and imprints itself easily in the memory.
I don't think I would be doing this album justice by breaking it into its components. Even mentioning the production, which I'd normally call brickwalled, could paint things in the wrong light. I can only say that the exquisite opening of "Split the Sin" tugs my heartstrings, that the part from "Into the Heat" in which "Oh forgiving sea, come throw an arm around me" is sung is uniquely alluring. Yes, I'll begrudgingly acknowledge that the lyrics approach stereotypical realms, but that really doesn't detract from the overall charm of songs.
I've described enough. Do you like energetic, melodic post-hardcore songs? Give this record a try. Are you looking to spill some repressed emotions? We Must Be Feeling the Full Moon welcomes you with open arms. I hope it's not too bold of me to say that anyone searching for a little more beauty should allocate 37 minutes of their lives to this record. After nearly 4 years, not a single song has gone stale; I'm still listening.
