In a piece of good news that has brightened up the post-heatwave days – Moongoose are back!
Our favourite purveyors of widescreen cinematic soundtracks return with a remix of The Woodentops’ Too Good To Stay, from their 2024 album Fruits of the Deep ahead of news that new Moongoose album is just around the corner.
Too Good To Stay is a guitar drone stomper that puts me in mind of the likes of Spacemen 3 and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Moongoose mainstay David ‘Yorkie’ Palmer, a man whose musical knowledge contains a width and breadth that dwarfs my own, said that he “got a Suicide vibe off the original” and it is easy to agree with him and to understand why he “wanted to bring that more into focus”. With McGinty being a fan of and occasionally doing the live sound for Suicide, this is an understandable influence.
Not that Too Good To Stay necessarily needs the remix treatment, it is a strong song on its own and perhaps one that would surprise those who remember The Woodentops for the more indie sound on their debut album, Giant.
Woodentops mainstay Rolo McGinty was once a member of Wild Swans and counts one Frank de Freitas in his band, which may account for the Liverpool connection and hooking up with Yorkie.
Focusing on the Suicide vibe, the Moongoose remix of Too Good To Stay starts with an electronic pulse that builds in volume and intensity until keyboard riffs kick in, taking the place of the chugging guitars of the original. Vocals are heavily treated and fade in and out like an otherworldly presence.
Yorkie obviously subscribes to the school of thought that if a song is being remixed, it should be taken far away from its source material and messed with as much as possible. This version features pulsating keyboards where the original had chugging guitar. The cleverness lies in not replacing the core of the song or not making it into something entirely new. As an example, McGinty’s vocals survive fairly intact and keep the original’s hook intact.
The effect of all this is a trippy, hypnotic remix that would work equally well on the dancefloor or at an after party. Epic and intense are two words that would fit this well.
As if this wasn’t enough, Yorkie informs us that the new Moongoose album is “sounding great”, which is enough to get us into a state of anticipatory excitement before we have heard a note. This fifth Moongoose album, Auto-Magic Cinema Gun, will be released at the end of 2026.
Yorkie himself will be the first guest at the British Music Experience’s new series of conversational events called My Singles Life, which will be based around the single releases that mean most to the participants and takes place in the Cunard Building’s Star Cafe on Sunday September 20. A special Moongoose sampler will be given away to attendees.
The Moongoose remix of Too Good To Stay can be found here.
The Woodentops’ music can be found here
Moongoose’s music can be found here.