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Damon and Naomi
More Sad Hits (Reissue)
20/20/20
Damon Krukowski, Naomi Yang and Dean Wareham were Galaxie 500, active from 1987-1991 RIP. From its ashes rose a handful of recordings as Damon and Naomi, while Wareham went on to form Luna.
More Sad Hits is exactly what it says it is, a collection of melancholic, introspective, chiming pop songs. It is quite a psychedelic listen, giving the feeling of being at the bottom of the ocean in a lonely submarine. Queasy-listening? Its whereabouts is unknown and its direction is equally uncertain. Occasionally exotic fish swim past its windows; they dart, swirl and dance around the unchanging guitar that steers the whole thing across the ocean floor. MSH at times veers off towards adventure, but for the most part she moves at a slow and steady pace. Regrettably, after too long, it can feel a little constricted and claustrophobic as almost every song has the same strum and washy reverbs. But what stops it from sinking are the floating melodies and beautiful vocal deliveries from he and her alike.
There is definitely a continuation of the UK shoe-gaze tradition going on here, and perhaps Damon, Naomi and producer Kramer deliberately avoided making this album too accessible. That said, there is no sense of urgency anywhere and its velvety drones and woozy psychedelia are applied with tuneful delicacy. Sometimes it is loose in a fashionable indie manner, but this comes as a welcome contrast to the mesmerizing consistency and restraint running throughout. In small doses MSH glides along with gentle beauty, but the whole journey can get a bit nauseating.
—Mike Crook
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