The Moog: Sold for Tomorrow

Billed as “Hungary’s hottest new export (musical or otherwise)”, The Moog come roaring straight out of Budapest playing an infectious brand of catchy, garage rock. Influenced a combination of classic ’60’s pop (The Beatles, The Beach Boys), late ’70’s punk rock (The Ramones, Blondie), and Britpop (Blur, The Libertines, Placebo), the quintet features Tonyo on vocals and keyboards, Gergo on drums and percussion, Adi on guitar, Csabi on bass, and Miguel on guitar. Recorded at Tom Tom Studios in Budapest, Sold For Tomorrow was mixed by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Hot Hot Heat, Soundgarden) and mastered by Dave Schultz (The Pretenders, Otis Redding). Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, the album starts out with the breathless pop of “Your Sweet Neck” (I won’t rest until I have/Just a bite of your sweet neck my love), slams straight into the Hot Hot Heat-influenced “Everybody Wants”, and never really lets up until the final bars of “Xanax Youth” fade out. For my money, the only slightly slow spot is the midtempo ballad “Anyone”. This is one of the best pop records I’ve heard recently — I can almost hear Joey Ramone shouting “1-2-3-4” between songs.