Marnie Stern - 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

Presenter

Jade Nobbs

Published

Friday 6th March

Mistletone

Marnie Stern’s sophomore record first surfaced on the Kill Rock Stars label in late 2008. It gets another guernsey due to its local relaunch on the Melbourne Mistletone label in 2009. One hopes this might add to the album’s traction in Australia, as this is an album worth hearing.

This Is It etc. is a veritable compendium of rock motifs from across various genres and eras. In the melodic vocal style there are vestiges of 90s girl grunge-rock a la Liz Phair, Veruca Salt and L7. On album opener “Prime” the rhythmic patterns are strongly reminiscent of classic math rock circa Don Caballero, as they are on “Shea Stadium.” Shades of a Boredoms-style freak acid rock emerge on “Ruler”; there are frequent nods towards glam, punk and cock-rock techniques—T-Rex, the New York Dolls, Van Halen and AC/DC spring to mind. I personally never thought I would hear a revival of guitar finger-tapping, and certainly not with such interesting results as on tracks such as “Transformer.” Yet this isn’t an exercise in retro-rock revival. It’s experimental rock with pop sensibility, as evidenced on tracks such as “The Crippled Jazzer” where all the various influences are fused and momentarily transcended by a hypnotic layering effect that commands attention.

One occasionally wonders whether this record does enough to elevate itself above the level of clever pastiche. Nonetheless, it demands to be heard by the discerning rock aficionado, if only for the sheer bravery of its sonic ambition.