Moving Targets

Few Boston rock bands have burst onto the local scene as fully formed and as blisteringly proficient as Moving Targets. More than 25 years after its release, the trio’s debut album, Burning in Water, is viewed  by many as an epiphany, a volcanic and wildly charismatic blend of distinct styles, influences and talents. “We were wearing our hearts on our sleeves,” drummer Pat Brady once said regarding the album’s recording process. Yes, hearts on their sleeves indeed, but with a foot on the accelerator and a fist in the air.

The band was formed in 1981 by Brady, vocalist-guitarist Kenny Chambers and bassist-vocalist Pat Leonard. Their first big break was being included on 1984’s Bands That Could Be God, a compilation of Massachusetts artists curated by Gerard Cosloy, founder of the popular fanzine Conflict. Moving Targets’ three contributions to the disc – “Changing Your Mind,” “Waiting for the End,” and “Selfish” – were produced by Lou Giordano at Fort Apache Studios.

Giordano assumed the producer role for Burning in Water and coaxed an exceptionally varied performance out of the trio, one that crackled with energy yet never spiraled into chaos as Chambers’ anthemic guitar hooks entangled with the frenetic thrash of the Leonard-Brady rhythm section. Issued by Taang! Records in 1986, Burning in Water was indebted to a variety of genres including hardcore punk, classic rock and power pop but managed to sound sharp and authentic. The Boston Phoenix described it as “one of the most pop-friendly discs that hardcore kids loved, and vice versa.”

Moving Hearts’ volatility, a staple of its live shows and a driving force behind its creativity, allegedly contributed to the group’s undoing. Chambers began doing side gigs with the Boston-based post-punkers Bullet LaVolta and Leonard left the group, replaced by Chuck Freeman, who played on the band’s second LP, Brave Noise. Critics noted that the disc was less brash and more polished than the debut, with breakneck jams mixed among songs that uncoiled slowly; it seemed that songcraft had taken precedence over speed.

Moving Targets recorded two more albums for Taang!, 1991’s Fall and 1993’s Take This Ride, but Chambers was only remaining founding member by the time the latter dropped. From 1993 until the band dissolved in 1995, he was joined by two former members of the band Jones Very, bassist Jeff Goddard and drummer Jamie Van Bramer. Since then, Chambers has recorded solo material and performed/recorded with Bullet LaVolta. The band played a one-off reunion show for WMBR in 1999, followed by one other gig a year later. In 2007, the original Chambers-Brady-Freeman lineup regrouped for a series of shows and there were rumors of a new album. That never happened, however, since both Leonard and Brady passed away.

(by Ryan Foley)