By: Jessica Grose
It’s all he-said, she-said with the Moggs, a couple of analog purists from the Bay Area. The Moggs’ two members, Sir Plus and Miss Minor, sing several call-and-response ditties in the spirit of Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth on their Absolutely Kosher debut, The White Belt Is Not Enough. The duo is so analog-fixated that they went all the way to London’s Abbey Road studios, the Mecca of anachronistic recording devices, to make sure The White Belt was as pristine as possible; digitally unsullied, that is.
Besides featuring alternating male and female voices on some tracks, the Moggs will draw a lot of comparisons to Blonde Redhead for their harsh guitar work and dirty, pretty mixes. The Moggs’ quickly syncopated songs like “C-C-C” sound like fellow NoCal denizens Erase Errata, but instead of sounding harried and hyper as Erase Errata frontwoman Jenny Hoyston does, Miss Minor has a monotonous alto, a knowing, disaffected flat line that serves the background beats well.
The Moggs have been making their hothouse indie rock for the past ten years, since the two met while auditioning for a Calvin Klein underwear commercial in 1995 (the role of shirtless hottie for which Sir Plus had auditioned ended up going to Ashton Kutcher), according to an interview with the band on their website. Though the pair wears many hats during recording sessions, Sir Plus handles guitar duties and Miss Minor rocks percussion during live shows. Catch the Moggs in action all over the country this summer. They’ll be touring consistently until September 22.
The Moggs tour dates:
8/12, San Francisco, CA (The Hemlock)8/17, Santa Cruz, CA (The Blue Lagoon)8/18, Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake Lounge)8/19, Pomona, CA (Needles & Pins)8/20, San Diego, CA (Scholari’s Office)8/21, El Paso, TX (Lucky Devils)8/22, Austin, TX (Emos)8/23, Denton, TX (Rubber Gloves)8/24, Houston, TX (The Proletariat)8/25, New Orleans, LA (Hi Ho Lounge)8/26, Pensacola, FL (Sluggo’s)8/27, Orlando, FL (Back Booth)8/28, Atlanta, GA (Rocky Mountain Pizza)8/29, Athens, GA (TBA)8/30, Chapel Hill, NC (Nightlight)9/1, Philadelphia, PA (Khyber)9/2, New York, NY (Scenic)9/3, Rhinecliff, NY (Bard College)9/4, Providence, RI (AS220) 9/5, Boston, MA (The Middle East Upstairs)9/6, Montreal, QC (Le Swimming)9/7, Toronto, ON (Sneaky Dee’s)9/8, Pittsburgh, PA (Garfield Art Works)9/9, Cincinnati, OH (Crush)9/10, Louisville, KY (Dutch’s Tavern)9/11, Kalamazoo, MI (Kraftbrau Brewery)9/12, Chicago, IL (TBA)9/13, Madison, WI (Glass Nickel Pizza)9/14, St Paul, MN (Big V’s)9/15, Iowa City, IO (Gabe’s Oasis)9/16, Lawrence, KS (Eighth Street Taproom)9/17, Denver, CO (Lion’s Lair)9/18, Salt Lake City, UT (Monks House of Jazz)9/19, Boise, ID (Record Exchange)9/20, Seattle, WA (Crocodile Caf�)9/21, Portland, OR (Berbat’s Pan)9/22, Chico, CA (Off Limits)
Links:The Moggs’ official site
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