On The Verge

Night Moves

Minneapolis, Minn.
Psychedelic Shoe-Gazers
www.nightmoves1.bandcamp.com

“We wanted a band where songwriting was more important than a crazy, get-drunk-live show,” Night Moves lead singer/guitarist John Pelant says a few days before the October release of his band’s Domino debut Colored Emotions. “And we wanted a record [that] people could keep coming back to and still find something new.” Pelant and bassist Mickey Alfano started making music together in high school, leaning on the garage and dance-oriented electronic sounds that dominated indie rock in the early aughts. After digging into the work of classic artists like Carole King, Todd Rundgren, Neil Young and The Rolling Stones in college, their interests began to shift. In 2009, they formed Night Moves, which quickly grew to include and multi-instrumentalist Mark Ritsema, and started figuring out their own blend of moody, melodic, psychedelic rock. The band took their time crafting Colored Emotions, layering their tight pop songs with beats, synthesizers, weird chords, crazy strings and stray organ pops. “We wanted to create something like The Flaming Lips, only without the confetti shooting,” Pelant suggests. After a soft release, Colored Emotions found a home on Domino records, and Night Moves are already thinking about their next project. “We have a ton of songs in the bag,” Pelant says excitedly. “But we don’t want to just write pop songs that won’t have any longevity.”