Moneen: Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The fact that Moneen take their name from (according to the press notes) "a beautiful French girl" serves as a pretty good summary of both the Canadian band's music and the emo tradition it seeks to uphold. For all the aggressive guitar work and the tortured vocals of frontman Kenny Bridges -- who sometimes sounds like he's singing around a throat full of rusty nails -- at the heart of Moneen's music lurks the kind of angst and regret that come from longing for the unattainable. Are We Really Happy . . . is a solid if sometimes overwrought piece of work; it's the quieter moments, rather than the swaggering trajectories, that stand out. Case in point is the album's last track, "The Last Song I Will Ever Want to Sing." Nine minutes long and permeated with dreamy, pensive guitar work and lyrics like "I'm left with sadness/sitting here watching you melt away," it provides a lingering glimpse of a band trusting its instincts and, in the best way possible, letting it all hang out.

REBECCA MARX
(June 17, 2003)