Image of Marnie Stern from Radio K
#4 This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That... by Marnie Stern (Kill Rock Stars)
Marnie Stern is the best kind of headache. Keep in mind that I am only a casual fan of headache-inducing music (although some would probably say otherwise), but there's something about Marnie Stern's experimental rock assault and shrill, chirpy singing that really works for me. And seems like a pretty interesting person, too - she first heard the music of Sleater-Kinney at the age of 23 and decided to be a great guitarist. A Don Caballero video she saw brought her around to the idea of a finger-tapping technique to build her sound around. Her first demo of songs got her a record deal, and before long she was recording with well-known drummer Zach Hill.
I have little time for music that is all about guitar - I admire guitar virtuosos, but their style of playing (generality warning!) usually comes across as too much or too slick. It may say something negative about me that I prefer to listen to the music of poor guitarists. I have trouble saying how good of a guitarist Marnie Stern is, but when I watch her performing "Transformer" live on Radio K (see the picture caption above for the link) I see someone doing something pretty difficult and definitely different. The guys at Guitar Center would probably say, "Pshffffbt!", but everyone hates those guys anyway. And there's something about the songs she writes and the way she layers the sounds that makes it more interesting to me than most music of its kind. I hate to use the word this way, but it's... feminine somehow. And I like that.
And it's not ALL about the guitar-playing either. Marnie Stern is not an amazing vocalist, but her pep-club shouts and surreal lyrics complement the whirling guitar leads in a lovely way, bringing the meager melodies to Deerhoof-esque levels of noise-joy. The album works as a cohesive piece as well, with a great lead-in track followed by three standalone singles, "Transformer", "Shea Stadium", and the unstoppable "Ruler." The middle of the album, though is the high point for me - the trio of songs that follows the singles is not as catchy as what came before, but "The Crippled Jazzer", "Steely", and "The Package Is Wrapped" are the juggernaut that power this record. I feel exhausted and elated after hearing these three songs in a row. The song quality dips a little at that point in the album, but it comes right back with "Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads".
This might seem to contradict what I just said, but the single song that makes the album for me is "Ruler" - it's all about "Ruler". If I hadn't heard that song online (and then replayed it a dozen or more times) I wouldn't ever have bought This Is It and I Am It... This is my favorite song of the year, hands down. It is immaculately composed and arranged, but it is so effortless in its execution that, when I hear it, I am drawn into the song completely and find my body moving involuntarily to its rhythms. And I'm not a guy who dances - sorry, ladies. I try to limit it to some head-bobbing if I'm listening to the song at work, but I have been known to cut loose a little more in the privacy of my own home. It's that infectious.
"Ruler" by Marnie Stern
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