See also: 2024 represses of Moot! and Paste
The dominant takeaway from You Never End, Moin's third album in about as many years, is one of sensed opportunity. Though in operation since 2012 and initially viewed, intentionally or otherwise, as a Raime off-shoot, it's only really since 2021 that the trio have started to gain significant traction with a series of sell-out records (hey, don't pay those Discogs prices - they are all coming back into print) and ever well-attended live shows. You Never End represents a summit of that upward trajectory, a markedly confident record that deals in the trademark Moin dynamics - Valentina Magaletti's peak level drum work, clinically sharp production, post-hardcore guitar motility, obscure YouTube samples - at their controlled and defined. Comparing them to other bands is mostly pointless when it's so obvious what a Moin song is, but for the sake of a one-sheet sales pitch, let's see this record as Slint to the previous two's Fugazi: they are part of the ecosystem, but they are their own individual mind, too. 'Guess It's Wrecked', the collaboration with Olan Monk, is easily their biggest concession to 'commerciality' to date, in that there's a chorus and an obvious front-and-centre vocal performance, to such an extent it's ended up on the radio. But for me, it's the other single, 'Lift You', with artist/poet Sophia Al-Maria that best captures what makes You Never End what it is. Al-Maria begins the track with a thank you for the invite for collaboration (something the band didn't have to leave in, but tellingly saw a need to) before reciting a series of cryptically emotive lines that feel both generous and cool, like Leslie Winer or Laurie Anderson, while the group slowly swells around them piece by piece, the precision of the arrangement on-point but never showy or bombastic, an expert example of knowing exactly what you want to say and how to present it. It positions Al-Maria at the centre of the song, not the band, which I think is revealing of their overall approach - refined, adaptable and open, ego-free, in service to the song (and the things they love that influence them). It's a refreshing way for a band to operate and makes sense of those attached 'post-' prefixes - as in, what came after, evolved, anew. Little else you can ask for from a 'guitar band' in 2024.
