Plenty of powder went into making this Moth

Remember the ‘80s? Remember supergroups? Although the glut of the supergroups did not start in the ‘80s, they sure had a lot of them. The trend trickled on into the ‘90s, and kind of died off by the beginning of the aughts. So, I guess it’s fitting that White Moth—a modern-day supergroup comprised of some of the most influential musicians you’ve never heard of—was purportedly conceptualized in 1985, at the midpoint of supergroup tomfoolery.

White Moth, at its core, is comprised of musicians R. Loren and C. Rogers, a “texturist” /vocalist and another vocalist, respectively. Before I continue: Yes, White Moth is billed as a dual vocalist ensemble, with no other instruments present.

However, reading the album credits is a task unto itself. No less than 10 guest musicians join Loren and Rogers—a list that reads like a who’s who of proto-hipster bands—Atari Teenage Riot, Zs, Asunder, Frodus, Krallice, even Treasure Fingers (yes, that Treasure Fingers). Not even hip-hop is safe from being cannibalized by the White Moth machine—Dälek also guests on a track.

Even before the listener plays the disc, they notice that for having a total of 12 powerhouse musicians, there are eight tracks. This leaves the listener wondering if the aggregate talent that Loren and Rogers must possess to enrapture even the mighty Alec Empire might be put to shoddy use. Not to contend with that theory, the first track, clocking in at 3:14 total, starts out with nearly a full minute of metallic droning. Conversely, it ends with a full minute of the very same metallic sound. With limited real estate, having two-thirds of an opening track as a low drone isn’t exactly a way to win over listeners. I don’t mean to sound like a snarky prick, but some labels hire people to arrange tracks in a way to maximize single play-through enjoyment. But I suppose that when you’re lucky enough to sucker in Alec Empire, your need for convention magically disappears.

By now, I hope you really like that hollow “infinite reverb” bell drone, because you’ll get it for a whole minute at the end of each song. At the end of the final track, “To the Cathedral,” you’ll hear three minutes of it. The really funny part is that, as a musician myself, I know that Electro-Harmonix, God bless ‘em, manufactures a reverb pedal with an “infinite mode” called “Cathedral.” If this all means what I think it does, White Moth really pulled one over on about 1,000 people who may or may not be listening to their record.

All negativity aside, if you cut out the 11 minutes of drone and can tolerate tons of psychedelic effects, there are some real jams on this record. Tracks two and seven, “Two Women, Knitting” and “Smiles Warm Red Light,” respectively, are the standouts of the record—the latter being where Empire’s influence (read: 909 gabber) is particularly detectable. The former track is more of a balls-out noise rock cut, bringing to mind Sonic Youth and A Place to Bury Strangers, if only for their swirling and monolithic effect usage.

Ashley Jones of Treasure Fingers really gets his feet wet with the White Moth project. Formerly of a little-known drum ‘n’ bass act called Evol Intent, Jones gets to return to his DnB roots many times over the course of the record. If Loren and Rogers meant for the beats on the album to sound ultra-synthetic and reminiscent of the DnB genre, then they have found a winner. A nice side effect of the record is being able to find out more about the artists on it—with the truly great drum programming that Jones contributes, it’s very easy to be able to experience a newfound respect for Treasure Fingers.

I can only assume that the drone is supposed to signify drifting in between artistic “visions,” as the White Moth mythos makes references to REM sleep—the state in which your body is most prone to dreams. Perhaps the track featuring Dälek (“Shoot the Clock”) would have best been left a dream, as it’s a complete non sequitur and serves little purpose.

It’s not like noise rock/musique concrete was ever for the “casual listener,” but any casual listener that tries their ear at this record will likely be lost amongst the multiple interludes which all sound exactly the same. That said, White Moth’s record can be enjoyable; it just takes a little work. But if the listener is expected to work for the enjoyment, perhaps next time White Moth can work to meet us halfway. ?