MoeTar were formed in 2008 by the pair of singer Moorea Dickason and bassist Tarik Ragab, who played together in the Funk band No Origin. Original formation featured also Dave Flores on drums, Matthew Charles Heulitt on guitar and Bob Crawford on keyboards, who was soon replaced by Avant Rock specialist Matt Lebofsky. The band debuted live in May 2009 at the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco and several lives followed since. For over a year they worked on their debut 'From these small seeds' in four professional and home studios, the album eventually was released independently in 2010, re-released in 2012 on Magna Carta. Former member Bob Crawford still played Wurlitzer piano in two tracks.
The band cited Frank Zappa, Queen, XTC and Classic Prog acts like Yes and Genesis as the main influences.Do we hear these sources in the album? We certainly do. Although they sound more like a modern Gentle Giant, producing quirky, fast and intelligent music, some sort of innovative Avant Pop Prog with Punk and Classical touches. This is genuine music by any means, A.C.T. could be an appropriate comparison, still MoeTar sound a bit more retro-styled in the process, they even cross the borders of bands like Rascal Reporters or The Muffins at moments. Tracks are rather short, but the music is complex and intricate without losing much of its accesibility and freshness. Great female vocal harmonies, clever poppy tunes and progressive firepower with complicated twists, changing paces and climates in a blink of an eye, searching for the land of salvation in the genres of Jazz Fusion, Pop, Classical Music, Avant Rock or Musical. The arrangements are dense and dynamic with superb breaks and the atmosphere is extremely pleasant. Although much of the content is vocal-heavy, the instrumental background shines through, fantastic teamwork on interplays and tons of time signatures, with professional musicianship and an impressive technical level. Gentle Giant fans will love this to death; it’s modern Prog played with passion and tremendous consistency. From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=6171
