The last release by the short-lived The Sun And The Moon while they remained a working entity, ‘Alive: Not Dead’ is a wonderful four track EP that pointed in a positive direction for the quality of the band’s future work, only for that future to fail.
By this stage of the band’s arc they had left the Geffen label and found a home for this EP on the indie label Midnight Music, licensed from Glass Pyramid. Released in 12” and CD single formats, four quality tracks, one of which is the band’s spirited take on Alice Cooper’s ‘Elected’, complete with short dialogue snippet from an episode of ‘The Prisoner’ television series.
There are two versions apiece of both the 12″ EP and the CD EP, with titles and credits in either French or English. For some reason, despite living in the UK and buying my copies there, I ended up with the French language sleeve designs rather than the English ones.
Tracklist:
Side One:
- Adam’s Song
- C’est La Vie
Side Two:
- Arabs & Americans
- Elected
Overall, the sound is the familiar, richly layered twin guitar sonic landscape familiar from their debut album and of course The Chameleons. Difficult to pick out a favourite – perhaps ‘Arabs & Americans’ for me, but the dreamier ‘C’est La Vie’ might equally be a contender.
Three of the EPs tracks would later be compiled in the very limited pressing CD release ‘The Great Escape’ – the missing track being ‘Elected’, so the CD single here is your only way of tracking that one down on silver disc.
A real pity that the trajectory of The Sun And The Moon was such a short one. They will inevitably always be mentioned in twin orbit with The Chameleons, but if you’ve not heard them and should come across this EP (or for that matter their self-titled debut album and/or ‘Speed Of Life’ EP) I strongly recommend them.