#VAGABONDZREVIEW: Santa Cruz. Back To Basics

On February 19, Santa Cruz got back to business with the new single ‘Moonchild’. It has become their first release after another line-up change. After controversial ‘Katharsis’ album, the new single sounds like a deep breath of relief and the first reason of this feeling is that we FINALLY can hear serious old Cruz vibes that were missed by every listener of this band.

Santa Cruz - Moonchild (2021). Artwork: Patrick Belanger

Starting from typical Cruz-style intro this song instantly grabs attention. When hearing the first tunes of ‘Moonchild’ I instantly associated it with ‘My Remedy’ that has the similar vocal bridge style. That was the first call for me to understand that the music style of new Santa Cruz had definitely improved. We also hear typical Cruz style bridge that joins verse and chorus and it reminds about those great releases like Screaming For Adrenaline and self-titled Santa Cruz album. And one more feature of ‘Moonchild’ is pretty remarkable guitar solo! It’s really energetic one and it perfectly adds fire to this song. Drum part sounded the same during the song, so it was a bit boring to listen to the only kind of beat. If we compare that to the first Cruz albums they of course sound a bit poorly. Anyway, let’s hope that when we hear full-length album there will be more variable drum parts.

Technical and energetic lead guitar parts and unrepeatable solos are something I really liked in Santa Cruz before they broke up in 2018. There’s no doubt that two guitar solos sounded much more lively and energetic in past and they were more advanced. But anyway we notice significant changes between 'Katharsis' songs and the new single and it makes us believe in better and brighter future for Santa Cruz music.