Goon Moon at the House of Blues San Diego

As I descended the stairs of The Delta Room at the House of Blues San Diego, It was reminiscent of the walk down to the Echoplex in Echo Park. The main difference was that the Echoplex is fairly well lit compared to the dark New Orleans vibe of the Delta Room. I was in for a treat as Goon Moon and Sun Trash rocked the Delta Room.

Sun Trash looked very familiar from the start as they are fronted by Sean Wheeler of Throw Rag fame. I remember seeing Throw Rag open for Queens of The Stone Age at the El Rey many years ago. Sean found some down time from Throw Rag to record various songs with some of his friends like Troy Van Leeuwen (QOTSA), Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle) and Josh Homme (QOTSA). The end result is the midpoint somewhere between Eagles of Death Metal and Queens of The Stone Age with a Throw Rag twist. They played their amphetamine hazy sailor foot stomping rock for the audience that had the people in the crowd nodding their heads in approval. I picked up their freshly pressed CD-R "Wicked Awesome Vol. XI" for the ultra bargain of five dollars.

Goon Moon put out an overlooked album with "Licker's Last Leg" on Ipecac records. Chris Goss (Masters Of Reality) and Jeordie White (Nine Inch Nails) teamed up to put together a hodgepodge album of their favorite influences and bands. Chris Goss whipped around a toy wind maker to start of the synthesizer glazed rock of "Rock Weird". Goon Moon really got things rolling quickly with the razor sharp riff of "My Machine" that could easily fit on an old Queens of The Stone Age album. Fred Sablan was hammering away on his Fender Telecaster Deluxe. Fred also has his own project entitled Birthday Twin that is worth checking out. Jeordie White was switching between his Fender Bass and a black Gibson Hollowbody that reminded me of Noel Gallagher from Oasis. Jeordie even managed to throw in the opening riff to "Supersonic" before one of the songs which had Chris and the other band members laughing. "Tip Toe" had an enhanced atmosphere of paranoia in the live setting. "Sleep With A Gun" had Jeordie use an acoustic guitar to lead the band through a quiet version of the song which seemed like a homage to Oasis. It was impressive to see how well the band performed given the fact that many are members of other bands. Goon Moon played for almost an hour and a half which went by like minutes. I hope they tour again soon.