THE Moonlandingz were born out of a fictional fantasy created by the Eccentronic Research Council and Fat White Family. Their spoken-word record, Johnny Rocket, Narcissist & Music Machine…I’m Your Biggest Fan, focused on the fictional band and an obsessed stalker fan. The concept sounds extremely dramatic which is perhaps why the theatrics and storytelling is reflected in The Moonlandingz music, as they break the fourth wall with Interplanetary Class Classics.

The band’s line-up is stellar and sees different members come from all areas of the planet, Sean Lennon, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger), Fat White Family’s Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczewski (on vocals and guitar) as well as some of the members of UK electronic avant-garde group the Eccentronic Research Council. It’s as though the avengers have formed from distant areas of the galaxy to come together and kick arse. The cinematic scope of this album is truly humongous, and that’s exactly the approach that this team-up of music heroes have taken: the album is fit for an intergalactic superhero flick’s score.

This is undoubtedly a side project for each of The Moonlandingz members, and this unfortunately shows in their latest effort, as the work as a collective record  fails to take you from A to B. The tracks are rather sporadic and ultimately; because they are playing around with new sounds on this fictitious concept album, it sounds a bit jarring and random. It’s not an easy listen by any means. It’s quite a rocky ride through space and time.

However, it does have a few moments of genius among some of the creative chaos that the band explore. ‘Sweet Saturn Mine’ explores the full scale of the drama behind this band’s fictional story. It’s an up-tempo entry on the album, with a pretty catchy chorus, and a pristine vocal that hasn’t been distorted in any way – as some the other tracks tend to do to Saoudi’s voice. The bashing of drums against the 80s style sci-fi synths complement each other tremendously well, and as Saoudi repeats “I don’t feel alright” in the outro, his voice suddenly turns from clarity to panicked screams as though he is having a breakdown. It’s quite a performance in which he is acting, as well as singing, which adds to the theatrics of the album.

‘Neuf De Pape’ is another song from the album which puts its science fiction themes to the frontier. The track reminds me of dark horror, instead of the psychedelic route that Fat White Family intend to bring to the album, it’s a unique standout due to its slightly operatic and metal elements. It’s definitely a unique combination of genre. It’s grungy. It’s dark. It’s almost something you could expect to hear in a gothic stage musical. It conjures up allusiions to Dracula, and the orchestral chorus of ‘Neuf De Pape’ borders upon brainwashing; the lyrics stick in your head for ages.

But for the few good standouts among the album; there are a few duds tracks as well.  The opener ‘Vessels,’ sounds very similar to Muse. The coarse pounding of drums in the intro, alongside an apocalyptic beat, and a faint wavering vocal, all make this a rather underwhelming introduction. The eerie analogue-synth driven instrumental seems frenzied and random. In quite a few of the songs, this appears to be the case. Where bands such as Pink Floyd used the electronic elements in their rock music, to heighten the listening experience, in the case of The Moonlandingz, it doesn’t seem to add much to the music – except show that it is merely an experiment.

Had some of the tracks been stripped back of some of the over-drenched electronic synths and runs, that you would find on the demo tracks on your high school music class’s keyboards, the album would have been more effectively tied together as a whole. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. There are a few shining stars among Interplanetary Class Classics, but more often than not, the tracks are just randomly put together, aimlessly orbiting the album, but never quite entering its atmosphere.