January 24, 2011

Live Review: Mona

Union Pool, Brooklyn, January 16

These days, the road to being bigger than Bono (Mona’s stated aim) goes through Brooklyn – a place where the dreams of countless wannabe rock’n’rollers have been eroded by this town’s indifference. Tonight, Mona know they’re in for a real test. “I know we’re a bunch of rednecks from Nashville but c’mon, Brooklyn, give us more than that,” spits singer Nick Brown, in a sassy attempt to get the crowd on his band’s side early on. The real persuading, though, is in the first few songs, all of which whizz by in a blur that comes stunningly close to justifying their status as 2011’s Best New American Import. Both ‘Trouble On The Way’ and ‘Teenager’ come at you like airborne shots of adrenalin, brimming with the kind of choruses that you can cash in at the bank. Mona then decide to unveil their arena ambitions with ‘Lines In The Sand’ – a towering piece of whiskey-stained soul that could stop traffic. For this dazzling quarter of an hour, the band seem like instant stars rather than just hot prospects.

Perhaps inevitably, this blitzkrieg of brilliance isn’t sustainable. Nick’s wide-eyed energy and rock-star shapes disappear as they plod through the soft-rock filler ‘Say You Will’ and by the time the unveil the U2-by-numbers ‘Cloak And Dagger’, it seems like all four of them can’t wait to get it over with so they can go onto something better.

And they do exactly that with epic closer ‘Lean Into The Fall’, which takes their debt to Kings Of Leon to wonderfully dramatic heights and wins over Brooklyn’s indie sceptics. But Bono is a rock star all of the time and if they ever hope to surpass him, Mona will have to figure out a way to do the same.

Hardeep Phull

Rate this gig

Average rating

7.5

To read all our reviews first - days before they appear online - check out NME magazine, on sale every Wednesday

For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our sister site, NME Video.