EPK – Lunar Mistake

Members of the band in work overalls in front of a mylar sheet; studio lighting fades from green to magenta.

Biography

Lunar Mistake is a prog/post-punk/new wave band from Oakland. It features long-time members of the Bay Area music scene, including Matt Lebofsky (Secret Chiefs 3, miRthkon, MoeTar) on keyboards, Steve Lew (New Zombies, Eskimo, Ebola Soup) on bass, David Shamrock (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Free Salamander Exhibit, Slombis) on drums, Drew Wheeler (Free Salamander Exhibit, Young Has Beens) on guitar, and Jackie Wheeler on vocals and percussion.

Points of reference may include: Devo, Thinking Plague, Oingo Boingo, Cardiacs.

Press

Somehow I came across the band Lunar Mistake and when I asked them for more information I was sent this, “Lunar Mistake is a prog/post-punk/new wave band from Oakland. It features long-time members of the Bay Area music scene, including Matt Lebofsky (Secret Chiefs 3, miRthkon, MoeTar) on keyboards, Steve Lew (New Zombies, Eskimo, Ebola Soup) on bass, David Shamrock (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Free Salamander Exhibit, Slombis) on drums, Drew Wheeler (Free Salamander Exhibit, Young Has Beens) on guitar, and Jackie Wheeler on vocals and percussion. Points of reference may include: Devo, Thinking Plague, Danny Elfman, Rush.” The more observant of you may have seen a couple of musical genres listed which surely could only mean one thing, and you would be right, as here is a pronk band which Tim Smith would surely be proud of. I cannot believe I don’t see a mention of Cardiacs in their influences (is it really more than a quarter of a century since ‘Sing To God’?) as here is a band who have taken pronk and run with it to make something which is RIO, Avant, yet somehow commercial at the same time.

Jackie may not have a great deal of experience in bands but she is happy with everything the band is throwing at her, whether it is the Devo-style punk of “Infinite Loop” or the more comical “Fishies”. This is a load of fun which could have come from the stable of either Cardiacs or Poisoned Electrick head and is a blast of punk prog fun which is so very different indeed to what is in the current scene where prog often seems to be quite involved at gazing at one’s navel. What we have here is a band producing music which was underground thirty years, and now is even more so as they are so very different indeed, yet their jagged angular melodies and guitar riffs are literally music to my ears.

Kev Rowland, January 2025

https://progressor-net.blogspot.com/2025/01/lunar-mistake-2024-lunar-mistake.html

Lunar Mistake may be a relatively new group, but most of the members have appeared in other bands we’ve covered here. David Shamrock (drums) and Drew Wheeler (guitar) were in Free Salamander Exhibit; Matt Lebofsky (keyboards) has worked in Mirthkon, MoeTar, Secret Chiefs 3, and more; which leaves Jackie Wheeler (voice, percussion) as the new acquaintance here. MoeTar is probably the closest of those references musically to what Lunar Mistake is about. This is complex progressive rock that’s full of angular melodies, rhythmic changes, and tightly coordinated polyphonic parts, all delivered with a punkish energy. There’s also a quirky sense of play about the songs that should inspire a lot of smiles. You’ll not hear any grandiose pseudo-classical arrangements, but you will get a constant stream of creative ideas. “People Death” may be a meditation on the end of the human race lyrically, but the music cruises through sections like Cardiacs crossed with Thinking Plague. Jackie Wheeler doesn’t go for flashy style in her singing — she just nails the erratic melodies without drawing attention away from the lyrics. She’s quite enjoyable to hear, and her voice doesn’t really remind me of anyone else, which is something to look forward to these days. Another thing about Lunar Mistake that’s enjoyable is the fact that their songs are concise, with the twelve tracks coming in a bit under 38 minutes. Only one stretches to six minutes, and the delightful “Fishies” is only a minute and a half. All in all, Lunar Mistake is a great opening salvo from a talented band, and one of the top releases in the avant-prog stream of 2024.

Jon Davis, Exposé Online

http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/lunar-mistake-lunar-mistake-2.html