Moonbow – “War Bear” [Album Review]

I get a total MeteorCity Records feel listening to these guys; a total Unida, Fu Manchu and Nebula vibe. A bunch of dirty rockers with a punky point-of-view. When you have David McElfresh from Hank 3/Lethal on guitar, and your rhythm section happens to be Ryan McAllister (Valley of the Sun) and Steve Earle (formerly Afghan Whigs/Hermano), you need someone real as a vocalist. Add one BMX badass cum Survivor personality Matt Bischoff supplying vocals, and you have a party, for real!

Even though with every consecutive play that this widens my smile, I feel like I’m missing a touch of something that would have put this right up there. Dont get me wrong, this is totally sweet hard rock for the backyard party, but no reinventing the wheel here. The sting is that there are some real glimmers of brilliance within (check “The Road” and “Sword In The Storm”) but it’s totally cool if rocking out is the priority here. There are tons of nuances that greenhorn ears won’t pick up right away either, but that’ll be the gift that keeps on giving when they find them after many plays. Having a good vibe and tracks is sometimes all bands want in a day, in an age where music seems much more like a collection of files.

Moonbow certainly got people’s attention with this though, as the sincerity, and skills are all in fine form. You know it’s a sign of good times when John Garcia throws down guest vocals on “California King”. Definitely an opus to break out for the summer hangs (as these days we seriously need more happy), but more importantly, Moonbow has shown us that they have at this point, more than enough juice to play with the big boys of the hard rock world.

War Bear Track Listing:

01. War Bear
02. Sword In The Storm
03. Drinkin Alone
04. Bloodwash
05. Death Of Giants
06. Alone Eyes Roam
07. California King
08. The Road
09. Son Of Moses
10. Toward The Sun

Run Time: 43:25
Release Date: April 21, 2017

Check out the heavy-as-sin title track “War Bear”