{"id":6588,"date":"2018-02-23T13:17:03","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T18:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=6588"},"modified":"2018-03-13T04:36:10","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T08:36:10","slug":"the-soft-moon-criminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Soft Moon <br>Criminal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/the_soft_moon-criminal.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6589\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/the_soft_moon-criminal.jpg\" alt=\"The Soft Moon, Criminal\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/the_soft_moon-criminal.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/the_soft_moon-criminal-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>Since The Soft Moon\u2019s 2010 self-titled debut, Luis Vasquez has been creating dark electronic records as a one-man post-punk outfit. In the intervening years, Vasquez relocated from Oakland to Italy while slowly shifting his sound away from the whispered lyrics and haunting melodies that marked the beginning of his career. His latest release, <i>Criminal<\/i> (Sacred Bones Records), delves head-on into the industrial sound with which he flirted on 2014\u2019s <i>Deeper<\/i>. This Soft Moon now has a much harder edge. If the previous records were often dark in an introspective and brooding way, Vasquez now directs his rage outward, with tracks that he has said deal with guilt and abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with the leadoff cut, \u201cBurn,\u201d where Vasquez asserts, \u201cI am the stranger living in my skin, and it burns,\u201d over distorted guitar and an industrial beat, the record doesn\u2019t relent even when giving way to tracks like \u201cILL,\u201d a staticky affair with drill-like effects. <i>Criminal<\/i> has been drawing comparison by critics and fans to Nine Inch Nails, a comparison that\u2019s easily made when listening to \u201cChoke,\u201d which is reminiscent of NIN\u2019s \u201cSomewhat Damaged,\u201d with its guitar distortion and tortured sing-song lyrics. But while <i>The Fragile<\/i> was a great record, do we need another? And do we need it now?<\/p>\n<p>The minimalism that worked so well for the Soft Moon\u2019s earlier darkwave sounds ends up sounding dated when applied to this industrial tack, and tracks like \u201cGive Something\u201d and \u201cLike a Father\u201d fall flat. Though there\u2019s been a slow shift towards this aesthetic, those who liked the debut may not feel this incarnation as much. Of course, an industrial record about guilt, anxiety, and abuse isn\u2019t supposed to be a comfortable listen, and no one can begrudge the Soft Moon\u2019s sound for evolving. Vasquez has always marched to the beat of his own drum machine, so it may just take some time for everyone else to adjust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since The Soft Moon\u2019s 2010 self-titled debut, Luis Vasquez has been creating dark electronic records as a one-man post-punk outfit. In the intervening years,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,92,2188],"class_list":["post-6588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-sacred-bones-records","tag-the-soft-moon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Soft Moon Criminal - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Soft Moon Criminal - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since The Soft Moon\u2019s 2010 self-titled debut, Luis Vasquez has been creating dark electronic records as a one-man post-punk outfit. In the intervening years,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-23T18:17:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-13T08:36:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/the_soft_moon-criminal.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josie Rubio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josie Rubio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Josie Rubio\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/0eb755e2ddf6e8c049feaa2a3a52382e\"},\"headline\":\"The Soft Moon Criminal\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-23T18:17:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-13T08:36:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/\"},\"wordCount\":327,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/the_soft_moon-criminal.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\",\"Sacred Bones Records\",\"The Soft Moon\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Album Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-soft-moon-criminal\/\",\"name\":\"The Soft Moon Criminal - 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