Recommended Artist: Sean Solomon
I saw the band Moaning open for Bob Mould at Portland’s beloved Wonder Ballroom in September 2021. This was a strange chapter in my life where COVID quarantine had loosened and so I was intent on going to as many shows as I reasonably could.
What I didn’t know then was that I’d been following Moaning’s lead vocalist/guitarist, Sean Solomon, on Instagram for about a year prior to the concert. Outside of making music, he creates relatable web comics and animations that he shares on his personal Instagram. I had no idea that he was in Moaning — I just thought he was an illustrator.
Fast forward to about a month ago when I discovered this absolutely beautiful song called “Car Crash” on his TikTok. What first caught my eye was the the CRT television in the background, playing a minimalist yet captivating cartoon in sync with the music. The metronome drum beat and subtly mesmerizing guitar melody layered beneath his soft but impactful vocals and lyrics just hit me like a… well, a car crash. I related to the song immediately. The lyrics are carefully ambiguous enough to be universal, yet direct enough to clearly convey a person’s introspection while processing a break up. Something I’d been recently navigating myself.
Life is chaos, love is pain.
Whiplash, I shook up my brain.
It stayed between us but I felt shame.
Car crash, I’m never the same.
I thought I told the truth but I lied to myself.
I thought I said the words but they just wouldn’t come out.
The illustration style of the video was familiar and after watching the video a few more times it occurred to me that Sean looked familiar too. I remembered that Moaning concert in 2021 pretty vividly. A quick Google search of Sean pointed me in the right direction and connected the dots.
Sean Solomon is currently drip-feeding clips of his solo work on his Instagram. He played one show in Los Angeles this past Halloween and has hinted at releasing the songs in full as an album. I am eagerly awaiting this release and I am very hopeful that he’ll decide to tour and make his way up to Portland soon.
You can listen to Moaning’s two albums on Spotify and other streaming services.
I hope we can listen to Sean’s solo work on the same streaming services soon.