Time For More Marah...

Well those irrepresible scamps from Philadelphia known as Marah are gearing up for the early October release of their new record If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry. Now I'm a huge Marah fan but haven't been really blown away since Kids In Philly and thought that Float Away With The Friday Night Gods was an unmitigated disaster. There was a degree of success with 20,000 Streets Under The Sky but the fire was still not so very bright. For the new album Marah went into the studio to record live to tape in an effort to capture the manic energy of their live show, an energy that even manages to make much of Float Away... listenable. The experiment was pretty much a success. I'm enjoying the new record for more than I had expected to. There's a good balance of semi-out-of-control rockers and mid-tempo balladeering. In fact, some of the slower songs seem to be direct descendents of Westerberg's best ballads. I mean that as a deep compliment.

In other random thoughts:

1) I totally missed the boat on Smog's A River Ain't Too Much To Love. I got it about 3 weeks ago and, man, do I love this record. Where was I?

2) I'm just now getting into !!!'s Louden Up Now and it makes my bottom move like a first grader after three bowls of Super Sugar Crisp.

3) I really meant what I said about California Orange's Souvenirs

1 song from Marah's If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry which is available for preorder on their website:

Demon Of White Sadness