Bonnie & the Mere Mortals - Take Me to the Moon (2025) Hi-Res

“And no, we don’t need help carrying our guitars / We’ve been carrying our burdens for years,” opens world-weary Bonnie & the Mere Mortals lead vocalist Bonnie Ramone on the song ‘Bechdel Test’, an immediate standout from the band’s second full-length album “Take Me to the Moon”. For the uninitiated, the Bechdel test is a way to measure the representation of women in fictional media, and this is done by three main criteria: firstly, the piece of media must have at least two women in it. Secondly, those women have to talk to one another. Thirdly and finally, the women must be discussing something other than a man. While this seems simple enough, it’s shocking how many pieces of even revered popular culture do not pass, although ‘Bechdel Test’, somewhat unsurprisingly, passes with flying colours: not only is the song filled with spot-on observations of everyday sexism, but there are three women doing the vocalising, with Amy Martin and Wendy Clay Alfredson joining Ramone.

80s new wave makes its influence known on a number of the tracks, especially the synth tinged ‘Wildfires’ where Ramone’s vocals give of shades of Chrissie Hynde as she realises that the eye of the storm, or in this case, the wildfire as a metaphor for a tempestuous relationship, is always the quietest part because it “Don’t seem so wild In the middle”. “Don’t you set those eyes / On me and mine / Don’t you point those hips my way,” Ramone positively snarls on ‘Evaline’ as she warms off a potential love rival. ‘The Beat Goes On’ indulges in an effective and catchy pop melody, capturing the day-to-day fatigue of creating art, but knowing you can’t live without it.

“Can’t get out of bed / Stare at dust in the light,” opens Matt Elias on ‘It’s All Fine’ where he duets with Ramone as the pair struggle to survive, or as it’s far more aptly summed up by Ramone, “Living through a chapter / That no one would read”. Bonnie & the Mere Mortals’s take on Mazzy Star’s ‘Fade Into You’ is fairly faithful to the original, but the growl in Ramone’s voice adds a rawer edge to the lyrics of unrequited love and yearning, while the band’s version of The Cranberries’s ‘Dreams’ feels lighter than the original, Ramone filling the song with a sense of true joy, the realisation of first love feeling revelatory.

The title track is wistful as Ramone dreams of leaving earth for somewhere better (“I won’t be coming home / Anytime soon / The world is small and crumbling / And I’m beginning to receive a gloom”), but there is some hefty, 70s-esque guitar work in there too that feels a clear, inspired nod to David Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars’. The pedal steel heavy ‘Kindred Spirits’ finds joy in finding people who truly understand you, while ‘In the Path of Shadows’ sees Ramone taking a howling comfort in walking through the darkness with others by her side.

“Take Me to the Moon” feels at times like a band that’s making a small crusade against a world that’s increasingly hostile towards women and the LGBT+ community, but it’s fair to say that they know that all they, and indeed any of us, can do is play their part as best they can. “I can’t fix it all, but I’ve done what I could,” concludes ‘Bechdel Test’. “So for now I’m done up, and I’m going to Dollywood / I’ve got my own girl, and I’ve got my own truck / And a melody that passes the test.” Not only does that melody pass the test, it sounds great too, and sometimes, that’s just what’s needed.