Taking on an eclectic array of themes including feline kings, workplace misogyny, surreal love battles, and anarchist art manifestos, Elbows Don’t Have Eyes is the debut album from The Stolen Moans that simply must be heard.

By Graeme Smith

A ghostly prelude sets the atmosphere for what promises to be an album like no other. It oozes seamlessly into first track proper, The King of Claws, which is full of swaggering and dark heavy rock. Vocal harmonies give depth to its ghoulish story.

MORE injects some lively garage rock and social commentary into proceedings during an early highlight. From there we get a mix of punchy and macabre, giving us plenty of variation across thirteen tracks. A vein of surrealist lyrics that hold up a black mirror to our society and its seedy underbelly runs throughout.

Bard-Inspired, Treachery, Chaos & Heartbreak has featured on these pages before and is, of course, a raucous, singalong highlight at the heart of the album. Pu Num Tu is delightfully bonkers while Morning Scars bristles with a darkness and psychedelic energy. I’m A Crow provides a raw, visceral and cathartic late album highlight before an Epilogue cleanses our palate with some soft electronica.

Based in Los Angeles, USA and Dublin, Ireland, The Stolen Moans are fast becoming favourites of ours. We featured two of their singles in 2024 and this album makes it a triumphant hattrick of releases to feature on our pages. It also showcases the impressive range of what they have to offer.

Elbows Don’t Have Eyes is out now and you can give it a listen below.