Half Mad Moon Iowa

Half Mad Moon

The Damnations TX

Sire Records, 1998

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 05/02/1999

What would happen if the Indigo Girls went rockabilly?

The answer might lie in the debut release from The DamnationsTX, Half Mad Moon. This Texas-based quartet hits the target onsome tracks, but they often show the growing pains a young bandgoes through.

The group - vocalist/bassist Amy Boone, vocalist/guitaristDeborah Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Rob Bernard and drummer KeithLangford - maintain a country air to their music without turningtheir backs on alternative rock or folk. The mixture is one thatwould, on paper, seem to be an interesting amalgam, at the veryleast.

Opening with the country-rock mixture of "Unholy Train," therequickly seems to be some promise to The Damnations TX, even thoughI would have liked to have heard the band stretch things out alittle bit with even a rudimentary guitar solo. Still, simplicityisn't a bad way to introduce one's self to the populace.