Now that a compilation of demos, live recordings and spoken word tracks by the Moldy Peaches is out, one could tell how important the group was to the anti-folk scene of the ’90s, how much they influenced the New York subculture and how she found late fame when her song “Anything Else But You” was used in Jason Reitman’s film Juno (2007). All of this would undoubtedly be correct. But such a music-historical classification does not affect the essence of this band in the slightest.
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The Moldy Peaches were Adam Green and Kimya Dawson’s first band, they first met when he was 13 and she was 22. Dawson worked at the record store, Green worked at the pizza shop next door. Both were ardent fans of indie, punk and hip-hop, of music in general – and formed a band. They played mostly simple lo-fi folk songs, singing whatever lyrics came to mind. Or they drew inspiration from old-school hip-hop (“Moldy Peaches In Da House”) or hardcore à la Minor Threat (“Punching Bag”).
The youth and the spontaneity, the wild and punky, the just do it mentality
The youth and the spontaneity, the wild and punky, the just do it mentality, all this speaks from the 21 songs that can be heard on this compilation, and that is simply poignant. When Kimya Dawson sings “Times Are Bad,” one is reminded of Velvet Underground’s “After Hours” with Moe Tucker on vocals, and “Shame” brings to mind a Nirvana ballad. and
Speaking of Nirvana: the Moldy Peaches also sing about the Kurt Cobain cult: “Ode To Girls Who Write Odes To Kurt Cobain” is the name of one of their songs. Likewise, “The Shoes That He Died In” pays homage to the riot grrrl and indie scene of Olympia, Washington (Dawson’s hometown).
The lyrics are often beautifully weird and silly, accompanied by synth gimmicks, the two of them sing about a pitiful flea in the flea circus (“Flea Circus”), they fantasize about a country where extraterrestrials slurp chocolate milkshakes (“Candy Land”), or they rehearse the revolution by snapping their fingers: “Let’s dismantle the Royal Family and start a revolution,” says “Royal Family”. The songs are mostly less than two minutes long, in these demo and live versions the songs sound even more raw and lo-fi than the Moldy Peaches have always sounded. This song collection transports the spirit of the band, which named itself after moldy peaches, in every second.
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