iTunes Singles of the Week Review: Mona’s ‘Shooting the Moon’

One will be hard pressed to find a track, from the new kids of today’s rock and roll, with a stronger intent to instill a sense of urgency in it’s listener than Mona’s “Shooting the Moon,” this week’s iTunes Single of the Week.

Drummer Vince Gard, bassist Zach Lindsey, and lead guitarist Jordan Young start the song with an eerie tandem that cranks out with a crowbar the ambiguous sonic membrane that separate our ears from the flavorful scotch burnt voice of singer Nick Brown. From there Mona distills our dull soul pushing it through their refinery of riffs and sounds.

Brown’s lyrics impends a revivalist message that dares one to disregard the ambiguous spiritual themes subtly saturated within this head banger. In between, “Shooting the Moon” splices in moments where Mona, specifically Brown, have elemental sounds familiar to that of the raspy texture of Caleb Followill from Kings of Leon, not surprising when you consider the fact that both have once toured together and also come from the magical sound garden of Tennessee.

Mona’s rise began when the band was featured in BBC’s “Sound of 2011 Poll,” an annual poll of music critics and industry insiders to discover promising new talents. Mona were also featured alongside a very talented company that included the likes of bands such as Yuck, The Naked and Famous, James Blake, Nero, Jessie J, and others.

Surprisingly Mona’s self-titled debut album was first released last year in the United Kingdom. After the album release the band went on a world tour playing at the world’s most prestigious festivals that includes the Glastonbury Festival and the Reading and Leeds Festival in Europe, the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, and the Splendour in the Grass music festival in Australia.

After making their mark across the globe the band has now returned home to take on the good ole U.S. of A. This past week the band re-released their debut album, “Mona,” to American audiences. From the sounds of “Shooting the Moon,” Mona unnerves to then raucously deliver the packed spiritual strength and compass found between every verse, yielding an experience that glows long after the Moon.

You can download Mona’s “Shooting the Moon” for free exclusively at the iTunes Music Store. Offer valid until 11:59 p.m., Monday, March 5, 2012.