PERSONNEL:
Lisa Blanchard: Voice
Mark Massaro: Acoustic and voice
Brad Rigney: Electric guitar

Engineered by Dave
Produced by Brad/Dave

TRACK LISTING:
1 – Big Monster Moon
2 – Cloud
3 – Super Ego
4 – Doll Face
5 – Vienme
6 – Discrete

“A uniquely original band from Boston, MA. Formed by Mark Massaro around 1995, the group consisted of Mark (acoustic guitar, vocals), Lisa Blanchard (lead vocals, piano, pianosaurus, and acoustic guitar), and featured Brad on electric guitar on the first and second album and Scott Anderson played electric guitar, slide dulcimer, accordian, xylophone, and toy organ on the second album.

“With a large Boston fanbase, Big Monster Fish Hook gained momentum and started playing outside the Boston area as well as opening for respected independent artists like His Name Is Alive, Ida, Spain, The Magnetic Fields, and others. Live performance success brought record label interest and after much deliberation the signed to an independent label (Milk Crate Records). However, shortly after recording their 3rd and still unreleased album during the summer of 1998, the band split up due to internal issues.” — Last.fm

It’s funny how bands end. Big Monster Fish Hook had it all going on, until it didn’t. Where are they now? Are any of them still making music? I’ve no idea. Big Monster Fish Hook left behind barely a trace. Hopefully someone can help fill in the blanks.

“Big Monster Fish Hook was a Boston band. They were friends of mine. I thought they were the greatest band ever. Their names were Mark and Lisa, sometimes accompanied by a gentleman named Brad. People LOVED them. We thought they were going to be huge. Apparently Mark had sent a demo tape to 4AD and Ivo liked it, but Lisa had other goals in life. My friends Noah and Andrew founded a record label (called Milk Crate Records – such a great name) just to put the record out.” — Music from my past

Was this the demo Mark sent to Ivo? Could be.

“There are three Boston bands that 4AD should have signed if Ivo had still been on his game in these year: Mistle Thrush, Difference Engine and Big Monster Fish Hook. Lisa and Mark created something truly special, and you could tell be the crowds at their shows. Drawing in people from the goth, folk, boston rock and LGBT scenes. Everyone loved them. I miss them something fierce, and still listen to them constantly.” — Rick Webb

This is an extraordinary recording. Intense, shadowy, blurry, at once stark and lush, dreamy and all too real. “Vienme” (later released as “Ven A Mi”) into “Discrete” is a powerful closing pair. Dang. You gotta listen this one, trust me.

“‘No hype, no pictures — just a tape.’ So writes Mark. Mmmm, what a tape! Simple and elegant, quiet but emotionally powerful in its directness and sonic intimacy, Big Monster Moon draws from springs as far removed as the Marianne Faithful and My Bloody Valentine and creates an incomparable sound. Everything is strong here, from the sensuous interplay of Mark and Brad’s guitars to the indelible presence of Lisa singing words like this: “I always pick the ones that eat me up/They grind their teeth into the dirt/It will all come back to you/And fill your empty head with rotten jellyfish/And things that make you squirm.” Tender, erotic, beautiful and weird, it’s the best tape I’ve heard in a long month.” — Demo Universe, 1995