Moneen's New Attitude Comes Through With New Album

It's a bit of an understatement to say Moneen had a rough go releasing 2006's The Red Tree.

Their first record for U.S. punk label Vagrant took three years to complete and saw plenty of band infighting. Documented in their Juno nominated DVD, It All Started With A Red Stripe, this story is cruelly common in the music biz and destroys many a band. Thankfully, Moneen aren't one of them.

When the band were in the lab with producers Brain Montcarz (The Junction) and Grammy-winner David Bottrill (Tool, Muse, King Crimson) making the forthcoming The World I Want To Leave Behind, the band invited CHARTattack to their small studio in the west end Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale to preview some tracks from their upcoming record and reminisce about mid-'90s Can-rock.

Normally off the wall, the boys seemed subdued. This was possibly because I caught them before their morning coffee, or the band that shows up to the studio is a totally different beast than the stage-diving, naked hijinx we're used to seeing. It sounds like they're entering the dreaded "maturing" phase.

"Other than the very first record... where you're running around in circles going crazy and having the best time of your life... this is the easiest record we've ever made as far as it's so positive and really, really creative," explains lead singer/guitarist Kenny Bridges. "A big influence on this record is more just straight-up, honest songwriting."

"Hold That Sound" (the title track on their recently released EP) and "Lighters" illustrate the duality of Moneen, who leap between distorted, delay-filled rockers and more introspective piano jams.

"One is rock, the other is...not." Bridges jokes.

"We've carved out the parts and they all fit together and interweave in a cohesive way," adds Bottrill. "Sometimes you make more of an impact by what you don't play."

The band recorded with Montcarz, who then sent sessions to Bottrill in Los Angeles. Even with the geographical divide, his influence is evident in the fuzz bass and hard tom drums that form the opening crescendo of "Hold That Sound," sonically reminiscent of the low end of Tool's AEnima.

Instead of sleeping in bunk beds and recording in the basement of a house in Baltimore like they did when making The Red Tree, the band carpooled in from their homes in from suburban Brampton for the making of this album.

"I like being away, it's all you're focusing on," laments Bridges, "but it's kinda nice going home. I like my girlfriend a lot. It's nice to see her."

Strained relationships are another inevitability of growing up as a band. Moneen recently parted ways with drummer Peter Krpan, who left to pursue other musical interests. Bridges had previously said in the Alex Liu documentary that if any member of Moneen left, they'd just break up.

"I was obviously lying," he quips as the rest of the band erupt with laughter. "I will kick every single person out of the band and me an Montcarz will start an old Canadian '90s indie rock tribute band."

Krpan has been replaced by Steve Nunnaro, who according to Bridges, "brings something so different to this band that we never had before... we're all really on the same page. He's just a really, really great guy."

You can hear the work of the new drummer on Sept. 15, when The World I Want To Leave Behind is slated for a release.

Moneen will play these dates:

Sept. 15 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Oct. 14 Anahiem, CA @ House Of Blues
Oct. 15 San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
Oct. 16 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Oct. 17 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Oct. 19 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
Oct. 20 Denver, CO @ Cervantes
Oct. 21 Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont
Oct. 22 St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
Oct. 23 Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
Oct. 25 Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo
Oct. 26 Covington, KY @ Mad Hatter Club
Oct. 27 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Oct. 28 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
Oct. 30 Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
Oct. 31 Hartford, CT @ Webster Theatre
Nov. 1 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre Of The Living Arts
Nov. 3 New York, NY @ The Filmore
Nov. 4 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Nov. 6 Towson, MD @ Recher Theatre
Nov. 7 Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
Nov. 8 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
Nov. 10 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Nov. 11 Orlando, FL @ The Social
Nov. 12 Orlando, FL @ The Social
Nov. 13 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre
Nov. 15 New Orleans, LA @ Republic
Nov. 16 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
Nov. 17 Austin, TX @ Emo's
Nov. 18 Dallas, TX @ The Door
Nov. 20 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Nov. 21 San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues
Nov. 22 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour