Just slightly better than the James Bond movies

Moonraker

Moonraker

immergent Records

Recommended if…

Moonraker

Moonraker

immergent Records

Recommended if you like: Nelly Furtado

The members of Moonraker met while they were all students at various schools in Boston in 2000, and they’ve been making interesting music ever since. Their music can be classified as electronica with a heavy funk influence, but the thing that’s most evident in their songs is the fact that they just want people to get up and dance. They accomplish this rather well. Listening to their self-titled album, you can just see a club packed with tragically hip twentysomethings dancing and trying to decipher their meaningful lyrics.

Singer Kelli Scarr sounds a lot like Nelly Furtado with a few hints of Dido thrown in, especially when she hits breathy, soaring high notes. On the opening track, “Shalom,” she’s singing about a former lover she’s still in love with. Lyrics such as “Shalom – till we meet again I will tell her to wait for you, that weeping girl at cliff’s edge. Shalom – till we touch again I will tell her not to run, no, for you are always there,” stand out. Toward the end of the song, she scats in the manner of Ella Fitzgerald, which conveys her confusion at the way the relationship ended. And at the very end, after the music stops, she whispers the word “Shalom,” letting the listener feel how heartbroken she is.

The song “Salimander Skin” is slower and more introspective. In it, Scarr adopts a softer singing style as she tells us the story of her mother’s life in lyrics like, “I would sing myself to sleep while she was in the next bedroom over. Oh, how many secrets would she keep? Was she crying before she knew that he was lying?” Once again, there is a tremendous end to the song – Scarr just lets her voice take off and convey the pain she feels in her tumultuous relationship with her mother.

“Can I Love” is the most danceable song on the album. The opening bass line just grabs you and won’t let go until you get up and dance. The lyrics are playful, with Scarr questioning the definition of love and whether it exists between her and the person she’s singing to. For example, she asks, “What’s the deal with love? Do I turn to you or do I turn to me? Can we work it out or should we just let it? Yeah, yeah, can I love? Can I give you all the stars above? Someone tell me – is this love?”

For this weekend’s performance in Pittsburgh, Moonraker will certainly make you get up and dance to their unique blend of funk and electronica. Be sure to head out to Mr. Small’s for a cosmically fun time.

Moonraker will be performing this Friday at Mr. Small’s in Millvale at 9 p.m. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. For more information, call (412) 821-4477.