Album Review – Luna – Rendezvous

Luna’s final studio album is their finest effort since Penthouse. The band certainly didn’t mail it in for a collection of songs they knew would help define their legacy. Quintessential Luna, every track is listenable and complete with trademark Dean Wareham lyrics that spans the gamut from quirky poetry to laughable puns. (For an example of the later try the almost painful, yet still amusing, “Chairman Mouse” in “Star-Spangled Man.”) The guitar is unmistakable Luna with the always present Velvet Underground influence and accessible, building guitar riffs. It’s a cohesive album that flows effortlessly from one track to the next, complete with a catchy single.

In “Astronaut,” the album provides a stand-alone track that ranks up there with anything else the band has ever released. (Note that a slightly different version of this song was originally released on the Close Cover Before Striking EP, which preceded Rendezvous.) Their last few albums seem to lack such a standout. Dean Wareham’s aptness as a wordsmith shines through on this gem with lyrics that include:

I’m not the Jack of Diamonds,
I’m not the Six of Spades,
I don’t know what you thought,
I’m not your astronaut

I don’t know what it means, but I know I like it.

The album’s tone is light and a playfully flirtatious motif runs throughout. Song titles like “Malibu Love Nest,” “Motel Bambi” and “Cindy Tastes of Barbecue” (not to mention the partial figure of a woman in her underwear on the album cover) do more than hint at a sexual theme, and it’s a fun and lighthearted one. Even more subtle lyrics like, “I want to bend your spoons and make your silver shine” seem to have sexual allusions. (Or maybe I just have a dirty mind, but if that’s not proof enough how about the line, “I like flowers, I like sex.”) In any case, the mischievously enticing lyrics are complemented by the trademark upbeat Luna guitar and the album is light and fun.

Two of the strongest offerings on the album are written by Sean Eden. The former member of The Feelies also performs the vocals on “Broken Chair” and “Still at Home,” which are the most polished songs on the album. They don’t break from traditional Luna in any remarkable way, yet they seem to offer a bit more complexity in their arrangement. “Still at Home” lacks the hook of “Astronaut” but it might be the strongest contribution to the album from a purely critical standpoint. The lead guitar on this track is the most robust on the album. Eden’s work also seems to be constructed with a bit more patience than the typical Luna song. There’s nothing rushed about the music and what the tracks lack in the building guitar crescendo that characterizes some of the other songs, they make up for with maturity and depth.

As much as I hate to see the band break-up, the album does evoke the thought that after over a decade together and eight studio albums, Luna hasn’t significantly evolved. Most of the tracks wouldn’t be out of place on Bewitched or Penthouse. In fact, Days of Our Nights and Romantica were bigger departures from the early material, but perhaps this was a conscious decision for an album the band recognized as their swan song. They complete their catalog doing what they do best and there isn’t much reason to criticize that. Their sound may not be a big departure from early material, but it’s still thoroughly enjoyable.

That’s not to say there isn’t anything new. Dean Wareham’s vocals are drifting more toward a Lou Reed solo-career feel, where the line between singing and simply speaking lyrics in a deadpan voice becomes blurred. “Buffalo Boots” is a prime example. The song has a “Walk On The Wild Side” feel with Wareham spitting out short phrases in tune with a simple upstroke guitar riff. I suspect we haven’t heard the last from Wareham and if he goes solo I wouldn’t be surprised to see his efforts gravitate in this direction. Right now I believe he is working on side-projects with Britta Phillips, who plays bass and provides backing vocals on Rendezvous. I’d be curious to see where Sean Eden lands as well, as he is obviously an accomplished talent in his own right.

Only time will tell how much staying power the album will have. I still believe any Luna collection should start with their debut Lunapark and their third release Penthouse, but this one might make a case for being third, at least among full-length releases. (They also have some great EPs on their resume.) “Astronaut” is the lone standout so the staying power has to come from one nice single and the fact it’s a nice listen from start to finish. Whether that will over time be enough to keep it in a regular rotation remains to be seen, but it’s certainly not going to be collecting dust for a while and my guess is that the robustness and cohesiveness of the album will keep it in my good graces for many years to come.