The Moon Bandits—Tommy, Astrid, Adam, Bethamy, and Paul—say what they mean and mean what they say. You don’t have to guess what the message is, which is always feels refreshing in a world of political doublespeak and empty gestures. The songs on Wildfire feel less produced, raw like an open wound, and more immediate than the songs on 2020’s Danger.Ruckus.Riot. which I also reviewed favorably. This release, however, is a split with IGAF Sequoia, an independent acoustic band, made up of the same people who recorded the Moon Bandits songs—Tommy, Astrid, Adam, Bethamy, and Paul. There are more metaphors and nuance, but the same love for this earth and a deep yearning for the fullest expressions of human freedom. I would not expect to find these two bands next to one another in a record store, except for the acoustic instrumentation, but I love that they share a split with one another. I love that the song “Commie Mommy” (Moon Bandits), wherein Tommy thanks his mother for raising him to be an anarchist, shares space on a record with “3am” (IGAF Sequoia), in which Bethamy wonders where a beloved one is sleeping at night and why they aren’t answering their phone. –Jon Mule (Self-released, igafsequoia.bandcamp.com / moonbandits.bndcamp.com)