Mooner – Tabiat


Introducing Mooner, a psychedelic rock group from Indonesia made up of members of The Slave, The Sigit, Sigmun and Sarasvati – all well-established bands in their homeland. Originally released in April via Bhang Records, is the re-release of their début album Tabiat this time via Outer Battery. Within it is a multitude of influences, Indian Raga and Middle Eastern touches are mixed together with psychedelic, 70s era bluesy rock resulting in a familiar yet alien sound.

The opening track ‘Buruh’ is toe-tapping fuzzy rocker which brings to mind Blues Pills whose catchiness transcends the language barrier, for those of you that do not speak Indonesian. This approach is also evident on ‘Hei’ a vintage sounding bluesy rocker with a dash of keyboards and an earworm-worthy “laa laa” refrain. You get the nagging feeling any meanings and nuances are lost in translation, but the riffs are certainly not as is the case in ‘Lancang’ a spruced up meld of Cream and Black Sabbath with a pacey start that soon grows into a heavy, stoner rock groove.

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Interspersed throughout the record are a variety of diverse influences from world music, as evidenced on the three instrumentals. ‘Takana 1’ is a bongo fuelled jam with a slight Latin, Santana like feel whilst ‘Takana 2’ and ‘Takana 3’ are both atmospheric, mood-setting pieces which sound like stop gaps in between more straightforward rockers. Songs like the swift nonstop rhythm of ‘Seruh’ and the gloomy riffs and ponderous pacing of ‘Ingkar’. The longest track ‘Ternganga’ mixes these two approaches; it is a slightly doomy rocker with bongos layered in the faster breakdowns and flutes at the end giving it a calm finish.

‘Tabiat’ is a decent début record from this Indonesian supergroup that mixes fuzzy, bluesy rock with a psychedelic feel, and Indian Raga and Middle Eastern flourishes for good measure.

6.0/10

THOMAS THROWER