Moonlight over Bakersfield is the debut solo release from A-Frames, Oh Sees, and The Intelligence et al. contributor and West Coaster Lars Finberg. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise to those familiar with his bands that this release ended up on one of the world’s greatest record labels, In The Red. Nor does it need to mention that this album was recorded by a bona fide rock star that goes by the name Ty. Given the aforementioned criteria, it isn’t difficult to imagine what this album sounds like, or so I thought. While it obviously has a couple of tunes that remind you of modern California garage crud, Moonlight over Bakersfield is a dynamic and expectation-defying (yet cohesive) album, without jolting you off your seat. It’s filled with a wide range of angular and atonal indie rock/garage, hooks, and folk leanings. It’s an incredibly deep, excellent debut. It should also be mentioned that I busted out laughing after hearing a full-on direct Metallica lyric/quote from “Harvester of Sorrow” on a certain track. Well played. –Steve Adamyk (In The Red, intheredrecords.com)