moe.
Dither

review = B+

moe. has always been a -live- band. True, the New York based quintet -has- made some pretty good records, including a pair on Sony’s -550 Music- label that had the record company thinking big, and hoping for commercial success similar to moe.’s jamband elders: Blues Traveler, Phish, and Widespread Panic. Didn’t happen that way. Both albums, -No Doy- in ‘96, and ‘98’s -Tin Cans and Car Tires-, were -good- records, they just didn’t capture the remarkable energy of moe. concert. -Or- a huge market. After the Sony deal fizzled, moe. returned to its roots in ’99 releasing -L-, an impressive double album on their own -Fatboy Records-. Easily moe.’s best effort to date, it’s no surprise that -L- is a -live- album. And now we have moe.’s first independently produced -studio- album in eight years-. Drum roll please... defined by Funk & Wagnalls as, "a state of nervous excitement," -Dither- successfully flexes moe.’s muscular rock chops and is worthy of the giggling tizzy its name implies. The CD opens with "Captain America," a bouncy, tie-dyed funkathon featuring strong vocals, catchy hooks and plenty-o-DJ scratches. From there the music winds through trippy, sing-a-long pop; dreamy, lava lamp rock; and twangy, truck drivin’ Americana; all the way to "Opium," a smoky, last track mood rocker. Although moe. has yet to conjure the same irresistible magic in the studio that it does onstage, they’re getting close. -Very- close.