Default Man - Full Moon and Fire

Default Man 

​Full Moon and Fire
self-released; 2016

3.6 out of 5

By Mike Pryzgoda
​

Full Moon and Fire, the new EP from Default Man is a fantastically produced set of three songs.   Each song is extremely catchy with thoughtful parts layered in.

The title track opens the EP with layers of polyrhythmic guitars, each with their own tone that sits well within the sonic sphere. The chorus features some clever harmonic changes followed by a surprising but effective acoustic guitar solo. The bass is strong throughout, keeping the momentum.

“Stories” makes use of gorgeous contrapuntal guitars, weaving up and down with their melodies enveloping and supporting the voice. One of the buzzing electric guitars almost simulates a cello line and is contrasted by a tone that sounds like mellotron-like flutes in the background. 

Speaking of tone, the drums sound phenomenal throughout the whole EP but particularly shine on this track, each tom ringing in its own frequency and each cymbal hit shimmering. The development of the coda near the end of the song is a welcome and powerful change.

The EP closes with “The Lucky One” built around syncopated chord changes and a funky bass line leading the way. The contrast between the palm-muted guitars and the rhythm of the open sounds work together to build layers of funk and rock. The bridge is brief but effective, and slides back into the verse smoothly.

The only drawback is each song has a very long fade out which doesn’t always seem necessary, and is slightly distracting when it happens in the middle of a verse like in the title track. Finding proper endings for each of these songs should be easy though, Default Man is writing really good songs and obviously knows his way around the mixing board.

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