MARNIE STERN INTERVIEW We here at Cannibal Cheerleader were among some of the most ardent fans of Marnie Stern’s sophomore release This is It… and we proclaimed it as one of our top albums of 2008. Now, before she heads down to Austin for SXSW 08, Marnie Stern has granted us an interview about her life, that whole kissing-booth affair, and what makes the indie-shredder so rock and roll.
CC: Describe your sound to the uninitiated. What is Marnie Stern all about? Introduce yourself, your music, and how it all came together in the beginning.
MS: It took a really long time for my music to come together… A lot of years of trying to find my own voice. I guess my sound is a mash up of a bunch of different musical tastes I like, along with some ideas and questions I’ve had about life thrown in there for good measure.
CC: What are some of your biggest influences? What bands do you like to listen to? Do you find yourself emulating other artists or mostly doing your own thing?
MS: I try not to emulate other artists. I never learned people’s songs when I was learning to play the guitar. I think often times when you do that, you end up trying to get into the mind set of someone else and really that’s impossible to do, so you have a harder time of expressing yourself on the intsrument. It’s different for everybody though. If I really like something I will try and absorb the essense of it and incorporate my own style into what I’m doing. There haven’t been many bands that I have gotten into over the past few years. I’ve been dissapointed by that because I like feeling a healthy competitiveness where I hear a band and it challenges me to do better work. I do like Ponytail very much.
Whaddya know? We love Ponytail too! Great minds think alike! Read more excerpts from the interview below and stay tuned for the complete version in our third issue of Cannibal Cheerleader Magazine, out during SXSW 09!
Marnie Stern – “The Crippled Jazzer” ******************************************************************** TV ON THE RADIO RETURN TO AUSTIN By some misfortune we managed to miss out on catching TV on the Radio’s last jaunt through the Lone Star State, but we’re in luck as the band will make their triumphant return to Stubb’s on May 15th. Get ready all and check this awesome TVOTR video below!
TV on the Radio – “Love Dog” ******************************************************************** MARNIE STERN INTERVIEW (CONT’D) CC: Your last album garnered a lot of attention and positive praise, even more so than your debut. What was it like being thrust into the limelight like that? Was there a sense of relief or added pressure?
MS: Is that what happened? How exciting if it was!! To me it felt like an extension of what happened when I released my debut. There were positive reviews and I went on tour, but I couldn’t really tell a big difference from the release of the first to the second. I guess when you are in the middle of it, you can’t really tell.
CC: Starting with influential online outlets like Pitchfork Media and Stereogum and trickling all down the blogosphere you’ve been given a lot of attention over the past year from this new form of music journalism – what do you feel about the online music community and how has it affected you?
MS: I love it!!!! It’s been very positive, so what’s not to like? Ha! Seriously though, the online music blogs are the only place I go to read about reviews and what’s going on. I never look at rolling stone or other music magazines, so I couldn’t be happier about that. Of course when you open yourself up to a blog, you are always left with the negative comments that people make, but I guess all press is good press and you just have to ignore the nasty things people say.
CC: Do you feel like the rampant torrent usage of these sites negates their positive influence? I’ve heard you were particularly unhappy when your album leaked, can you describe that situation to us?
MS: Well it is a very very tough situation. It’s great that so many people get to hear it, but from a business angle (or rather the angle of trying to make a living) it’s really bad. An album that sold 5,000 copies this year would have sold 15,000 copies 10 years ago and that’s a huge difference. I think prople have this misinterpretation that if you are getting attention, that you are making money..and that just isnt the case. I’m 30,000 dollars in debt from subsidising tours etc, and it’s really scary. On the otehr hand, I am doing what I love to do, so I really shouldn’t be complaining. A shift is going to come at some point in the music industry, but it might take 5 or 10 years and that is probably the span of my career, so more likely than not I missed the boat on money.
CC: The kissing booth clearly started as a joke and became an online sensation, but do you feel it detracts from the music or simply gets more people interested in your shows? Do you have plans to retire or continue the smooch-a-thons? Have any particularly smelly fans been denied a kiss?
MS: That really did start out as a joke and I had no intention of making it such a big deal, but It was fun and like you said, if it gets people more interested in shows, then great! Never say never, but I think the smooch-a-thons are retired. No one was denied a kiss, but honestly there weren’t many takers.
CC: Describe to aspiring guitarists your playing style and how you’ve managed to become one of the genre’s most celebrated shredders? Talk about your unique style and how you come up with your riffs. What’s it like being the greatest indie-rock guitarist of all time (and if you’re not it, who is)?
MS: Well there are so many people who are much better players than I am. My favorites are Spencer Seim and Mick Barr. There are thousands though. I think it’s more important to have your own style, then to play well. I would like to think that people like my music more for the way I put together the guitar parts, than for the shredding aspect. I’ve had a hard time with the ‘virtuoso’ title, because I don’t think I am that, and really it puts you in a position where you have nowhere to go but down. A lot of people say that I get attention because I am a female playing guitar. I had never really thought about gender before. I had always just thought about artists I liked and wanted to be as good as. In the end, I just have to keep on playing and trying to grow as a player.CC: What is it for an artist to ‘make it’ in the music industry today? Have you ‘made it’ as an artist or are you still striving for more? Can you finally say you support yourself playing music or do you have a day job?
MS: I think I answered that in one of the other questions. I don’t have a day job because my schedule is so strange and I have to leave to go on tour so often. I have applied for a lot of waitress positions but no one calls me back. In terms of making it, I think I made it when I got to release my first record. That was my goal and everything since has been icing on the cake. Though it is true that once you feel you’ve conquered one step, you want to try and keep going. It’s human nature.
Comments? Any huge Marnie Stern fans out there like ourselves?
This coming Monday we’re going to be making a huge Cannibal Cheerleader announcement. Here are some hints – it involves SXSW 09 and it rhymes with ‘ARTY’. Rock out this weekend folks, seeya Monday!
Squeaking in at the last second care of the newest incarnation of ex-Distiller Brody Dalle, Spinnerette, “Ghetto Love” combines spidery guitar riffs and wailing female vocals to make a part-industrial, part-punk masterpiece that rivals the tunes from such seminal works as Coral Fang. Highly recommended for fans of old school LA punk with a 2008 twist.
Tender as a broken heart and bloody as a gaping wound, “The Twist” by Frightened Rabbit combines a lovelorn tale of self-loathing with a minimalist piano line that nonetheless sounds more true to life than the majority of romantic ballads on the radio today. Combining real-world experience with careful, quiet riffs makes this tune one of the finest love songs of the year.
Morgan Nagler’s voice remains fragile as a icy lake but on “Atlantis” from the Whispertown 2000’s latest effort Swim her lyrics are focused on under the water, escaping into the hidden city deep below, away from sin. A testament to the quiet, serene songwriting of the Whispertown quartet, this tune is one of the most haunting of the year.
The tale of a suicidal goth girl might not be construed as one of the most whimsical and heartwarming songs of the year, but under the sweeping electronic orchestra of M83, “Graveyard Girl” is an equal parts kitschy ode to John Hughes narratives and a shoe-gazing spin through layers of haunting vocals. Slightly out-edges “Kim and Jessie” just due to our morbid fascination here at Cannibal Cheerleader.
With the year’s release of her sophomore album Jenny Lewis went from sultry songstress to road-weary troubadour, winding tales of a life hard-lived, and none harder than the lovelorn ballad as told in “Acid Tongue”. With a sense of the weight-of-the-world on your shoulders held up only by one’s own hope, Jenny Lewis spins a tale of drug abuse and loneliness that’s a road song for the 2008 generation.
2008 has been a good year for My Morning Jacket, cementing them in their rightful place as one of America’s premiere rock bands. Perhaps no better testament to this exists than in the wild experimentalism displayed on their newest album and on the song “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2″, which features bizarre instrumentation combined with the signature Jim James vocal stylings to create a haunting a captivating song that remains one of MMJ’s best ever.
Slinking in on a tide of electronic clicks and swishes “Courtship Dating” is easily the most radio-ready and immediately catching track off the Crystal Castles’ debut LP. With a fiery chorus and a dance-worthy groove “Courtship Dancing” is easily the top electronic track of the year.
This year saw the release of the Hold Steady’s Stay Positive, yet another release of bar-ready rock jams that weaved tales of lost Americana in a country that’s lost in innocence but still clings to undying dreams and hopes. Nothing better captures this attitude that “Constructive Summer”, the first song off the album and one of the best straight up rock tracks the Hold Steady have ever composed.
As the final track off Bloc Party’s newest LP Intimacy, “Ion Square” needed to encapsulate the message of the entire piece, an instantly politcal and romantic tune, all awash in electronics and guitar pedals. The song succeeds with ease, capturing the zeitgeist of the band’s current incarnation and pummeling the listener with equal parts poetry and passion, forming one of the best tracks of the year.
This was the year of Be Your Own Pet, and just in time as the band imploded near the end anyway in a decidedly rock and roll move. Still, the group left us with a string of punk rock revivalist tunes that screamed of Buzzcocks and hellfire, with all the fury and passion that first made the world fall in love with youthful rage. Perhaps none of these tracks is better or more definitive of the band’s delightfully sordid career than “Becky”, a tune banned in the US and full of high-school politics, figurative and literal backstabbings, and all the blazing guitarwork and shrieked Jemina Pearl vocals that have made the group so endearing. While their entire discography deserves a thorough examination by indie rock lovers everywhere, this is a good song to start with and the best song of 2008.
TOP TEN ALBUMS OF ‘08
10. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
Every few years America needs a reminder that they’re musical legacy is carried on the back of a quintet from Kentucky, hefting the burden of Southern-rock and fuzing it with massive degrees of guitar heroics and rampant experimentalism to rival the likes of Radiohead. This year’s reminder is Evil Urges by that same quintet, My Morning Jacket, and it’s packed full of such a wide range of incredible tracks to be considered one of their most far-reaching and fantastic releases to date.
9. The Action Design – Never Say
Resisting the urge to rework tracks from their Tsunami Bomb repertoire, Agent M and her new band the Action Design have constructed an entirely new sound, combining heartfelt punk ethos with elements of dance-rock and electronic. The formula works fantastically, displayed best on their album Never Say, an album of surprising depth and meaning during a time when Warped Tour bands are becoming more and more vapid. One of the best punk releases of the year.
8. Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual
With wild experimentalism and frenetic energy rivaling any indie rock band this year, Ponytail have a chokehold on the mad-crazy progressive meets jazz fusion rock and roll market. Their newest release Ice Cream Spiritual describes their sound perfectly in the name alone – a combination of childish delight and wild religious fanaticism. Capture that image in your mind, turn it into a move, and Ponytail is the perfect soundtrack.
7. Scarlett Johansson – Anywhere I Lay My Head
With a subversive edge totally unexpected in a covers album, Scarlett Johansson’sAnywhere I Lay My Head, a collection of Tom Waits’ songs, surprises and delights with its inventive renditions, creating a new set of standards for actresses turned singers. With David Sitek of TV on the Radio behind the boards, and a patented ‘Tinkerbell on cough syrup’ sound, tracks like “Falling Down” and “Green Grass” take on a new and incredible life of their own. Deservedly one of the best of the year, both for its music and for the gutsiness of its creation.
6. Bloc Party – Intimacy
On Bloc Party’s last album A Weekend in the City, the politics of everyday London living became very personal, hitting home with every subsequent sweeping song. On their newest album Intimacy, the quartet have managed to switch gears, making the most personal of moments become full of political meaning. On tracks like “Trojan Horse” a lover’s betrayal is akin to the fall of Troy and on “Talons” the group details the terrible (and deadly) consequences of romantic dishonesty. An emotional album fighting against an ‘emo’ world, Intimacy finds a band in rare form, taking the lessons of the past and moving their sound forward with rewarding results.
5. Marnie Stern – This is It…
On the lengthily titled This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, supreme shredder and songwriter Marnie Stern has managed to deliver on the promises of her early albums by taking her prestigiousness behind a six-string and combining it with excellent songcraft and a Karen O. wail to make one of the best albums of the year. Singles “Shea Stadium” and “Transformer” confirm the album’s pop sensibilities and deep cuts like “The Crippled Jazzer” delight with their destructive riffs and dizzying imagination. The best release from one of the best indie rock guitarists ever.
4. M83 – Saturdays=Youth
Capturing the spirit of youthfulness couldn’t be a harder task for a young songwriter. How to describe all the nervous fumblings, the magnificent discoveries, the awesome highs and terrible lows of approaching adulthood? If you’re M83, the solution is to let the music do the talking, sweeping maximalist riffs over John Hughes-style cinematics, creating an aura of energetic passion with all the ignorant bliss of a lonely teenage dreamer. Saturdays=Youth is perfect soundtrack to your years in high school, that is, if you were a nervous indie rock kid like myself. The best release from the already formidable M83 so far.
3. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
Following up on an album like TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain might be seen as some to be an impossible task. To surpass its rip-roaring fury one would have to turn inward and redefine what made the band so remarkable to begin with, and that is just what TVoTR have accomplished on Dear Science, a remarkably careful and sensitive record with no less of the force of the former but more secure in its songcraft and enriching in its tunes than ever before. Sounding more like a soul-session band with a rock edge than an indie band hiding behind laptops, the group careens through dizzying tunes of power and depth with equal parts dark sorrow and unimaginable hope, crafting one of the best records of the year.
2. Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward
The kids will never be alright if Be Your Own Pet has their way. From violent zombie fights to rampant drug usage, Get Awkward is a violent adolescent wet-dream come nightmarishly true, an over-exaggerated version of High School the Musical with a horrific injection of bloody reality. Though it turned out to be the band’s swan song, what a collection to go out on, combining a matured punk rock sound with endearingly clumsy lyrics and the trademark Jemina Pearl snarl carrying the whole crew along. This album should be the definitive soundtrack to every awkward youth, every wanna-be punk rocker, every indie-kid ready to cast off scene politics and relearn the magic of rock in pure, unfettered form.
1. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
What is punk rock? A daunting question to be sure, but demanding of an answer in an era of strict genre definitions and blogosphere gossip dominating true music journalism. Is it fast and loud music? Politically charged songs? Here at Cannibal Cheerleader we’ve come to believe that punk rock is a passion for change, a forward-thinking musicality that underlies a band’s music, an adventurous spirit and a talent for creating new and different sounds. With this in mind, we can say with no reservation that Crystal Castles perfectly epitomizes punk rock in 2008 to us. Braving criticism and legal woes all year, the band nonetheless released a fiersome collection of sixteen magnificent tracks that race back and forth from soothing electronic noodling as in “Air War” to blood-splattered rockers like “xxzxcuzx me”. In a year that saw the world change wildly it seems only fitting to have a band that did the same in between every song on their album top the list of our bloody best of 2008. Crystal Castles, a true Cannibal Cheerleader original.
Surely someone has some opinions on this one – comments?
TED LEO REVEAL ‘RAPID RESPONSE’ EP Coming hot on the tails of the brutal violence police and other security forces rained down upon protesters (many of them peaceful) at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, our favorite working-class punk superhero Ted Leo of TL and the Pharmacists has crafted a new EP entitled Rapid Response that’s available right this second at Touch and Go Records (rapid response indeed!). We could go on discussing the rage Ted Leo felt when he watched footage of the RNC protests, but he tells the tale so much better in the EP’s liner notes:
“EP Liner Notes From Ted LeoFor a very brief moment, it seemed like people were actually reporting the truth. The surveillance, pre-emptive detention, arrest, and beating of journalists, protestors, and watchdogs by the St. Paul police department, the Ramsey County sheriff’s department, and the FBI was so egregious that it couldn’t be allowed to pass without comment. I heard WNYC’s Bob Hennelly compare the treatment of RNC protestors to the fact that Trojan condoms had a product booth inside the building at the Republican National Convention, saying, “It seems as if free speech exists only for those who can pay for it.” I heard the name “Amy Goodman” actually spoken by, and written about in, the “mainstream media” after her roughing up at the hands of the St. Paul police. The story of the ABC cameraman who was smacked around and had his video camera smashed was about to bring down the righteous indignation of a formerly complacent press. And the license and viciousness and carelessness with which these acts and the banal bullying that seemed to be a constant around them – infiltration of peaceful (and not so peaceful) groups by police spies and agents provacatuer – the omnipresent pepper spray repeatedly maiming eyes that were only challenging with looks – stun guns, tear gas, and concussion grenades launched on a citizenry trying yet again to be heard – was finally coming under proper scrutiny. Was there violence launched against delegates, property, and police as well? I’m sure there was. And the majority of it is to be dismissed and condemned, but some of it has be to be understood as what was likely a natural response to this culture of military free-reign that pumps our protectors up to believe that we, exercising our rights as Americans, are an enemy to be crushed without concern and without reason. How they get away with it all… How they get away with anything they want to! We yammer on about the efficacy of trickle-down economics, but we ignore the trickle down effect that eight long years of example of contempt for the standards of the very same reasonable society this government claims to desire to defend, and the cynical exploitation of the populace via their fears and willingness to allow any transgression against their rights in the name of comfort (to inadvertently quote Shelter), but the proof of that trickle-down effect is all around, and was on display during the RNC in St. Paul. And this was actually being discussed somewhere other than within the remnants of punk fanzine culture and marginal message boards! And then came the Sarah Palin Side Show, and we’ve all moved on (but let me dive in, yet again, for one second to relate it to the point I was making above, and ask a question: how is it that a candidate for vice president, one allied with the “anti-big government” “pro-individualism” and even pro-states’ rights faction – can openly mock concern for an individual’s rights in the face of government accusation – endorse a “shoot first, ask questions later” policy – and actually be considered for a post that requires deference to and upholding of the Constitution? In the world that they’ve created, there is no accountability). But real people were hurt in St. Paul, and real people have bills to pay, and real people need funding to continue their good works. We (the band and I) were all feeling these events as deeply as we could from our 1200 mile remove, and so as not to feel entirely powerless, and in an attempt to contribute SOMETHING to that continuation of those good works, we wrote a song and recorded it, along with another new one we’d already been working on that’s pertinent to election time politics, and two covers we enjoy and that also have timely sentiments. It’s a small thing, but as the particle collider that cranked up at CERN yesterday will continue to reveal, all big things are made out of smaller things. Thanks for your contribution in purchasing this EP.A few words about the songs…First of all, don’t get on my case about recording quality, excessive compression, distortion, etc. – the point was to get this down and get it out as quickly as possible, so we just used our usual cruddy demoing set-up, and I mixed it down into, >ulp<... Garage Band. Also, I've been listening to not much but the last two Darkthrone records recently, so... that's probably had some effect on my vision of "production values." Also, I know that at one point it sounds like I'm saying "Amy GoodWIN," but it's just that I had never actually sung the song before, and I was rushing through it, not paying much attention to annunciation - I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt on that one, but you can still consider this a pre-emptive "clarification."“PARANOIA: Never Enough” – written specifically for this event and this release. I wrote it on Thursday in Rhode Island, we recorded it on Friday in New Jersey. Hope you enjoy.“Mourning in America” – it’s about race as a campaign issue. If it makes it onto our next LP, it will no longer be campaign season, but the frustrating irony is that in a few years time, it’ll probably be “timely” again.“I Got Your Number” – it’s pretty explicitly about media manipulation of political thought, I think. I also think it’s about time Cock Sparrer got a reassessment and a bit of the respect they deserve in the Punk Pantheon.“Nobody’s Driving” – apparently Amebix is getting back together. I applaud that. Hugely inspirational. Daryl K. introduced me to them way back when we were in Citizens Arrest. After repeated listens to the EP with just the previous three songs, I felt like it needed another. I spent the afternoon yesterday doing a more elaborate version of this – two guitars, two tin whistles, an air organ, backing vocals, etc. – but wasn’t really feeling it. I recorded over it by just playing and singing it live and alone – one guitar and one voice. Be forewarned – unless Touch and Go somehow manages to do some mastering to this before it gets posted, the first guitar chord comes in a little hot – if you’re listening in headphones, you might want to turn it down a notch when “I Got Your Number” ends.So that’s it!And again – this isn’t meant to be some grand sweeping statement on our part – it’s just a way for us to contribute SOMETHING real to the lives of real human beings, and show our material support for those whose actions and thoughts we value in this ideological struggle.Enough said.Thanks to James, Marty, and Chris for getting right behind this idea, along with Molly at Indivision, and everyone at Touch and Go. It feels good to work with good people!And thanks again to you for helping Democracy Now! and Food Not Bombs. Stay informed, stay alive – resist and survive.xo – TL“
Truly some inspirational words by one of today’s punk greats. I’m only going to post one song from the EP because all of you should really go to the Touch and Go site and donate to buy this album – of all the bands you’re going to drop money for this year, this one may direct that cash in the most sensible way possible. Viva Ted Leo!
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – “Paranoia (Never Enough)” (removed by request) Ok seriously y’all, ask nicely next time. That said, I really encourage everyone to go buy this EP immediately, and I thought by posting just one song of four it’d inspire people to go get the rest. Leave a comment to discuss. ******************************************************************** TRYOUTS: MARNIE STERN’S THIS IS IT AND I AM IT AND YOU ARE IT AND SO IS THAT AND HE IS IT AND SHE IS IT AND IT IS IT AND THAT IS THAT Move past the title, we know its long. And move past the guitarwork, everyone knows it’s amazing and we expected no less from the shredding siren that is Marnie Stern, especially after the masterful debut of In Advance of the Broken Arm. What’s worth dwelling on about the sophomore effort from the NY native is the pop mastery, the seamless fusion of incredible instrumentation with the striking vocals of Stern and her experimental leanings, all coming together to create what will be undoubtedly touted as one of the best records of the year. To venture that Stern was capable of taking the disparate elements of the New York art rock scene and crafting a record so experimental and nonetheless still so welcoming and listenable, brave but modest, would have been met with scorn a year ago. And yet she’s done it, a record of guitar majesty and swirly pop wonderworks – all in all, a perfect indie rock record. Definitely, 100% positively makes the team though you may find Stern beginning a cheerleader cartwheel and accidentally opening a black hole to infinity and spinning at the speed of light forever.
Marnie Stern – “Transformer” Marnie Stern – “Shea Stadium” ******************************************************************** THE KILLERS REVEAL DAY & AGE According to this here Pitchfork article, the Killers have titled their new album Day & Age and its due out Nov. 25th! We at Cannibal Cheerleader of course can’t wait for the next effort from these guys so we wait eagerly for any mp3s to come our way (anyone out there got something for us?).
NEW VIDEO FROM GLASS CANDY Quick little update today before I rush off to the Action Design show here in Austin! Pitchfork has a new Glass Candy live video up from the Midi Festival and since we absolutely love GC here at Cannibal Cheerleader, we’ll post it here. Check it:
******************************************************************** NEW SONG FROM THE CHROMATICS Gorilla Vs. Bear has a new song up from another dance-crazy group, the Chromatics. Check it out below!
The Chromactics – “Lady (demo)” ******************************************************************** NEW SONG FROM MARNIE STERN The third song Cannibal Cheerleader favorite and all around awesome guitar shredder Marnie Stern called “Ruler” is ready to be listened to at her Myspace. Check it out now!
NEW MARNIE STERN SONG Hello Cannibal Cheerleader faithful, today we bring you a new track called “Shea Stadium” from Marnie Stern’s upcoming album the lengthily-titled This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That.Sheesh that’s a mouthful, as is Stern’s requisite shredding, again showcased on “Shea”, though the song brings a pop intuitiveness and madcap inventiveness that reminds of a more calculated Ponytail. “Shea Stadium” is streaming over at Stereogum and at Stern’s Myspace. This is shaping up to be one of our favorite releases of the year so stay tuned for more from this mad woman!
Marnie Stern – “Transformer” ******************************************************************** CAT POWER IN CAR AD? Our favorite sultry-Southern crooner Cat Power has a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” featured in an upcoming ad for a 2009 Lincoln car. Could our lovely Miss Power have sold out her beautiful art? Or should we as fans not begrudge her a living, given the downturn in music sales this year? Regardless of your opinion, even this tiny sample of the song is pretty amazing and we’d like to dig up a full-length version somewhere. Anyone know where we can grab it? Video below:
Cat Power – “Sea Of Love” ******************************************************************** NEW BAND CHEER: GIRLS Having heard about this band for a while on some of those otherblogs, we decided we’d give San Francisco’s Girls a shot by buying their 7″ Lust For Life/Morning Light debut today, and we were not at all disappointed. “Lust For Life” comes first and what begins as a bedroom pop piano jangle segues into a clattery, lo-fi ballad with unique vocals that draw in the listener. “Morning Light” however seals the deal as a raucous, shrill guitar howl washes over lonely background vocals to the rhythm of a tinny drumset. Altogether, the sound is impressively genuine and heartfelt for such a lo-fi production and deserving of its acclaim. It’ll just be interesting to see which way their upcoming self-titled debut leans – the more languishing pop sensibilities of “Lust” or the shoegazey and reverb heavy sonic wonderwork of “Morning Light”. Time will tell!
MARNIE STERN REVEALS NEW ALBUM DETAILS Just when it seems that’s the world’s indie-rock guitarists, content with swirly rhythms and rudimentary string-plucking, Marnie Stern is back to teach these kids how to shred. That’s right, the greatest guitarist of modern indie rock is back with her second album called (bear with me now) This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That and it’s out Oct. 7th on Kill Rock Stars. If this album’s anything like her last effort, In Advance of the Broken Arm, listeners are in for a real tour-de-force of intricate guitarwork, but according to this Pitchfork article Stern’s prodigious instrumental mastery will be worked more fluidly into her song structures, creating perhaps a more pop-oriented album. Fine with us, can’t wait to hear some tracks! Here’s the tracklist:
01 Prime 02 Transformer 03 Shea Stadium 04 Ruler 05 The Crippled Jazzer 06 Steely 07 The Package Is Wrapped 08 Simon Says 09 Vault 10 Clone Cycle 11 Roads? Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Roads 12 The Devil’s in the Details
Marnie Stern – “Precious Metal” ******************************************************************** NEW MODEST MOUSE SONG – “SATELLITE SKIN” Apparently the Modest Mouse crew have been shopping this song called “Satellite Skin” around for a while. Heck, supposedly it’s even going to be on their upcoming as of yet untitled EP. Still, sounds like a real crowd-pleaser and rocks with the same inspired poetry MM is famous for. Check it below.
******************************************************************** NEW BAND CHEER: VIVIAN GIRLS We’ve been hearing about these girls for a while, from Brooklyn Vegan to Gorilla Vs. Bear and back again, but at Cannibal Cheerleader we usually reserve judgment until we’ve heard a full-length from a band and give them the opportunity to expand a unique sound into a whole album. Well color us impressed because the Vivian Girls more than deliver on their self-titled debut, ripping through ten lo-fi classics that scream equal parts indie rock sing-a-long, wall-of-sound guitarwork, and spacey, surfy atmospherics all around. Clocking in at just over 20 minutes the Girls have a knack for succinctness and directness, never overstaying their welcome but bringing the goods to each and every track. We’ll be watching these ladies closely and hope to have them swing back through the ATX soon!
Vivian Girls – “All The Time” ******************************************************************** WHY? TOUR SWINGS THROUGH AUSTIN An act that’s receiving as much acclaim in my close circle of friends as it is on the blogosphere, WHY? will be swinging back down through Austin on their latest tour. Watch for them on Sept. 8th at Mohawk playing in support of their excellent new LP Alopecia. This is one band that’s definitely going places.
WHY? – “The Hollows” ******************************************************************** BODIES OF WATER HAPPENINGS Bodies of Water just posted a massive Myspace bulletin that explains all the current goings-on of the band. I’ll post the full text below but to summarize: original drummer Jessie Conklin is quitting and will be replaced by two Texans, the band is selling their new LP A Certain Feeling on CD and vinyl, they’re about to begin a continent-covering tour, they’re making a music video, and hey look, free posters! Yikes! That’s a lot to digest, so read the following at your leisure. Let the good times roll you BoW workaholics!
“Hey guys – We recently sent this update out to our email list, but many of you may not be on it. If you’d like to be, send an email to mail@bodiesofwater.net and say that you’d like to be and then you will be.
This is what has been happening to us, and what is about to happen.
There are six things:
1. We have made a record called ‘A Certain Feeling’ that will be available to the public on July 22nd. The Secretly Canadian company is putting it out, and they are offering to sell it to you in advance of the release. They have CDs and vinyl records, and if you buy the vinyl you get a download code so that you can put it on your computer or some other little music playing machine. ALSO, they send you a poster if you buy something. Here is where you go to do it: http://www. scdistribution. com/cat/scd_catalog. php?usersearch=Bodies%20Of%20Water&pagerequest=
2. We are celebrating the release of this record by playing a show at the Echo on Thursday July 17th. Seasons and the Henry Clay People will be joining us that night. It costs 8 dollars, but if you want to only pay 5 dollars, tell us in an email and you will be added to a cheap list.
3. This show on the 17th will, sadly, be the last one that our beloved Jessie will play with us. Why? Because she decided a little while ago that the rock and roll lifestyle was not the kind she wanted to devote herself to. It can be an arduous one, and is certainly not for everyone! We’re, naturally, very sad about this. Her singing, drumming, and personal charms will be sorely missed. Her too-large shoes will be filled for now by two pairs of our friends’ feet; Jamie Pitts will drum to our songs, and Julie Carpenter will sing and play the guitar and violin. They are both from Texas.
4. In a month we are leaving to travel around the nation (and Canada) playing music in certain cities. There is a little map attached to this that shows you where and when we’ll be in those certain cities. We will try to put on a good show in all of them – it is important to us that people feel that they get their money’s worth. I am serious about this.
5. If you live in Los Angeles, it will be fun for you to look at the current issue of the L.A. Record magazine. There is a large poster in it depicting us pretending to be the Talking Heads. Have you seen the record ‘More Songs About Building & Food?’ We imitated it. I attached a picture of the poster to this bulletin so that you can look at how it is. The real poster is more monumental – it is 2 ft x 3 ft. The guy from L.A. Record took photos of us, and David collaged them together. There is an interview and some other pictures of us in there, too. It is free, so you WILL get your money’s worth if you seek this thing out.
6. We are in the midst of making a music video. I don’t know why I’m even telling you about this. It won’t be done for a while – You’ll see it when you see it. Anyhow, we will be cramming it through that tiny “pipeline” into your home or place of business via youtube and stuff. The themes of this video are: violence, dogs, nature, supernature, architecture, and lye. I know you are thinking “Great, another lye-themed video. Why do they even bother?” And I know what you mean; sometimes I ask myself the same thing.
EXTRA – We’re probably going to play in England, Germany, and France in October. We will pass along more details as we learn them.
We here at Cannibal Cheerleader were among some of the most ardent fans of Marnie Stern’s sophomore release This is It… and we proclaimed it as one of our top albums of 2008. Now, before she heads down to Austin for SXSW 08, Marnie Stern has granted us an interview about her life, that whole kissing-booth affair, and what makes the indie-shredder so rock and roll.
By some misfortune we managed to miss out on catching TV on the Radio’s last jaunt through the Lone Star State, but we’re in luck as the band will make their triumphant return to Stubb’s on May 15th. Get ready all and check this awesome TVOTR video below!
CC: Your last album garnered a lot of attention and positive praise, even more so than your debut. What was it like being thrust into the limelight like that? Was there a sense of relief or added pressure?
