Kill Rock Stars
One of the greatest publicity stunts imaginable for a Marnie Stern fan or guitar virtuoso would be to win a romantic night on the town with the golden-haired puppy-loving axe maiden. Amazingly her label thought the same thing and launched a contest to let one lucky guy go on a date with her. What better way to announce that she had an awesomely titled new album coming out: The Chronicles of Marnia .
This stunt of course comes just a few years after she hosted a kissing booth to pay off a traffic ticket. Yes she is a dream come true.
The fact that Stern shreds like no other is what keeps us listening while we fantasize about dating her but over the course of four full-lengths she’s evolved from a fret-tapping experimentalist to an accessible popsmith. Like Deerhoof she’s still a little too far out for average radio listeners but The Chronicles of Marnia finds her inching closer to some kind of populist approval.
The emphasis on her guitar playing isn’t as strong as on her earlier records which isn’t such a bad thing. It’s not like she’s stopped tapping away but on cuts like “Immortals” and “Year of the Glad” her voice is pushed to the foreground allowing the vocals to match and often take over as the primary instrument. And without Zach Hill on drums the songs take more of a rock direction and breathe a little more. On album number four it seems like a transition that needs to be made.
I won’t win the date with Marnie Stern but The Chronicles of Marnia is a nice consolation prize I guess.
