No Rocket Required
| No Rocket Required | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 April 2025 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||
| Length | 40:12 | |||
| Label | Transgressive | |||
| Producer |
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| The Moonlandingz chronology | ||||
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| Singles from No Rocket Required | ||||
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No Rocket Required is the second studio album by English rock band the Moonlandingz. It was released on 25 April 2025 by Transgressive Records in vinyl, CD and digital formats.[1]
Background
Released eight years after the band's debut album, Interplanetary Class Classics, No Rocket Required incorporates elements of rock, pop, funk and disco.[1] The album consists of ten tracks with a total runtime of approximately forty minutes, and features contributions from Ewen Bremner, Nadine Shah and Iggy Pop.[2] Its first and second singles, "The Sign of a Man" and "Give Me More", were released on 21 January and 24 February 2025.[3][4]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Dork |   [5] |
| Louder Than War | [2] |
| Mojo | [6] |
| MusicOMH | [1] |
John Murphy of MusicOMH rated the album four stars and compared it to the band's debut project, Interplanetary Class Classic, noting the similarities in the two albums, such as the "riotous, inventive, scuzzy rock-synth tracks with an impressive cast list of guest artists."[1]
Louder Than War assigned it a rating of four out of five, stating "No Rocket Required finds the remaining crew in fine fettle, with plenty to say and as with their first offering, a host of willing accomplices from either end of pop's space-time continuum."[2] BrooklynVegan, in its review of the album, commented that No Rocket Required is reflective of the band's "tender side" and "new maturity".[7]
Andrew Perry of Mojo gave the album a three-star rating and noted it as leaning "more towards ironised easy listening and '80s disco, topped with compulsively gut-churning lyrics."[6] Dork, rating the album four out of five, referred to it as "an album that's both a critique of modern life and a celebration of its absurdities."[5]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Some People's Music" (featuring Ewen Bremner) | Ross Orton | 3:23 | |
| 2. | "The Sign of a Man" |
| Honer | 3:13 |
| 3. | "Roustabout" (featuring Nadine Shah) |
|
| 4:13 |
| 4. | "The Insects Have Been Shat On" |
| Orton | 4:36 |
| 5. | "It's Where I'm From" (featuring Iggy Pop) |
|
| 3:19 |
| 6. | "All Out of Pop" |
| Orton | 2:49 |
| 7. | "Yama Yama" |
|
| 2:53 |
| 8. | "Give Me More" |
| Orton | 2:58 |
| 9. | "Stink Foot" (featuring Jessica Winter) |
|
| 3:08 |
| 10. | "The Krack Drought Suite (Pts 1–3)" |
|
| 9:40 |
| Total length: | 40:12 | |||
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[8]
The Moonlandingz
- Saul Adamczewski[a]
- Adrian Flanagan – bass guitar (tracks 1, 3–5), backing vocals (1, 3, 5, 6, 8), synthesizers (2, 4, 7, 10); guitar, strings, engineering (3, 5); harpsichord (3, 6), effects (3, 7, 10), organ (4), beats (5, 7), Mellotron (5, 10), glockenspiel (5), vocoder (6); drones, ancient pipes, balalaika (7); bass synthesizer (8); piano, arrangement (9); drum machine, dubs (10)
- Dean Honer – mixing (all tracks), engineering (1–5, 7, 8, 10) synthesizers (1–3, 5–8, 10), beats (1, 2, 7), EMS synthesizer (4, 9), theremin (6), effects (7, 10); drones, ancient pipes, balalaika (7); dubs (8, 10); Mellotron, drum machine (10)
- Mairead O'Connor – electric guitar (4)
- Lias Saoudi – lead vocals (2–4, 7, 8, 10), production (10)
Additional contributors
- Oliver Harrap – drums (1–6, 8), backing vocals (1), rototoms (6, 8)
- Ross Orton – engineering (1, 4, 6, 8, 9), drum machine programming (4), electronic drum programming (6); synthesizers, dubs (8)
- Sydney Minsky-Sargeant – guitar, synthesizer (1, 8); bass (2), electric guitar (2, 4), Omnichord (4)
- Ewen Bremner – lead vocals (1)
- Alex White – saxophone (2–6, 8), flute (3–5, 8), backing vocals (3)
- Hannah Hu – backing vocals (2, 4, 5, 8)
- Nadine Shah – lead vocals (3)
- Iggy Pop – lead vocals (5)
- Sean Ono Lennon – synthesizer, Omnichord, keyboards (6)
- Jessica Winter – lead vocals, strings, synthesizer, bass synthesizer (9)
- Alex Greaves – engineering (1–6, 8)
- Peter Ferguson – engineering (9)
- The Rainlord – artwork, concept
- Gareth Mallinson – layout
- Stanley Chow – specialist additional 'fig' photography
Charts
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[9] | 39 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[10] | 13 |
Note
- ^ Adamczewski is credited as a member of the band during recording, but is not attributed to any contributions.
References
- ^ a b c d e Murphy, John (23 April 2025). "The Moonlandingz – No Rocket Required". MusicOMH. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- ^ a b c Morgan, Steve (20 April 2025). "The Moonlandingz: No Rocket Required – Album Review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- ^ Murray, Robin (24 February 2025). "The Moonlandingz Announce New Album No Rocket Required". Clash. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- ^ Pearis, Bill (21 January 2025). "The Moonlandingz announce first album in eight years, share "The Sign of a Man" video". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- ^ a b Ellison, Jordan (23 April 2025). "The Moonlandingz – No Rocket Required". Dork. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- ^ a b Perry, Andrew (May 2025). "The Moonlandingz – No Rocket Required". Mojo. p. 88. Retrieved 27 April 2025 – via Archive.org.
- ^ Pearis, Bill (25 April 2025). "The Moonlandingz – No Rocket Required (Transgressive)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- ^ No Rocket Required (Media notes). The Moonlandingz. Transgressive Records. 25 April 2025.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2025.