Moon Duo

Artist Playlists

  • Moon Duo Essentials

Compilations

About Moon Duo

San Francisco's Moon Duo are a psychedelic band with chilly electronic underpinnings and drones inspired by Spacemen 3, Silver Apples, and Suicide. Made up of guitarist Ripley Johnson (of Wooden Shjips) and keyboardist Sanae Yamada, the template on their initial recordings pairs churning distorted guitars, shared vocals, and pulsing organ over machine-driven Motorik rhythms. It sounded honed to perfection early on with albums like their debut, Escape, and especially 2011's Mazes, where they began writing songs with sharp hooks. They took liberties with their established sound at various points, adding a drummer (John Jeffrey), dense sonic textures, and rambling experimentalism (especially on 2017's pair of albums titled Occult Architecture). The most drastic change came with 2019's Stars Are the Light, which stripped back the guitars and added soft disco and shiny electronics to their sound. Their powerful performances have been documented by releases like 2022's Live at Levitation.

ORIGIN
San Francisco, CA, United States
FORMED
2009
GENRE
Alternative

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