Hi! Thanks for joining me here at BLOGAPALOOZA ‘10!
Are you chomping at the bit for a new Goo Goo Dolls album? Do you need some new tunes to fill the empty silence of your life? If so, I have some good news for you. Mike Malinin’s side project, forty marshas, has released a great new album that you can buy by clicking right here! The first forty marshas record came out in 2007, and it was a bit of an odd bird. Let’s look closer at the new record, in other words…, and see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same.
New Beginning
We start with a brief (one minute) introductory track. Drums + guitars + synthy strings + some dude speaking Spanish = a delicious little amuse bouche for the rest of the album. It goes on just long enough to be charming without being overbearingly instrumental.
Falling Down
Sarah Meech takes lead vocals on this number. I’d listen to her growl her way through the phone book. Love her voice. The song is super solid and super catchy. The first two minutes are more straightforward pop-rock, and then the last minute and a half have a slower, more relaxed groove. It’s an awful lot of textural movement for a song that’s only three and a half minutes. It’s super deft, and I love the hell out of the contrast.
Best of Enemies
Marsha Mike steps up to the microphone. This song is energetic. Dare I say raucous? I challenge you to listen to this without dancing. Marsha Mike was never going to win American Idol, but his voice is incredibly well suited for this kind of music, and I think he sounds good.
First Day
Marsha Krista! Krista sang a song on the first record, and it was good, but she is basically mindblowing on this album. Her voice is just insanely pretty. She just sounds well trained, and she has good vocal control, and she basically sounds like an actual singer, and it’s really impressive. And really pretty.
Never Coming Back
Great forty marshas song, or greatest forty marshas song? Something about this makes me think Avril. And I mean that in a “catchy song with a sassy girlsinger” way, not in an “I purchased my personality at Hot Topic” way. Plus, I am always, always gonna be a sucker for girls who say “fuck.” I love the parts where Krista harmonizes with herself. So tightly executed. So good.
Intermission
No, do not go out into the lobby for a drink, stay in your seat and enjoy this tune. I love so much that there’s an instrumental song halfway through the album. The first record was hard to me to delve into because of all the genre-jumping and all the instrumentals that went on for a very long time. They were good, but there was too much for me. This, however, is so perfect. The four instrumentals on in other words… frame the rest of the songs so perfectly. It unites this record back to the first one without being overkill. I find it very, very stylish.
Audition
Oh, Marsha Sarah. You light up my life. This is one of my fav-fav-favorites on the record. Honey-tongued verses + screamy choruses are basically one of the fastest ways into my heart. Girl can sing. All the instruments on this recording sound really on-point as well, so props to Jason, Brad, Rob, and Mike.
Lost
One of the more subdued songs on the album. The music is kind of dreamy and muted, so the real star here is Krista’s voice (and the lyrics, which she cowrote with Mike). Her voice sounds really amazing on this song. It really demonstrates how high her range extends, and there’s this really lovely sort of yearning quality to how she sings. It’s a subtle, nuanced sort of performance.
Out Of Time
Welcome back, Mike’s voice. It’s nice to hear from you again. Sarah sings back-up, and they sound fantastic together.
Nothing Is Real
What up, Marsha Brian? This is Mike talking, Jason talking, Lucy barking, and Brian programing. It’s an offbeat diversion from the rest of the album, and I dig it hard.
Walking Alone
A pretty, droney sort of tune with Krista on vocals. She harmonizes with herself again, and it’s basically exquisite.
Old Ending
And now we say goodbye to our beloved in other words… with another instrumental that evokes the introduction, but slightly darker. Possibly sinister? We had strings before, but now, it feels more like an organ. This is the perfect way to put the album to rest.
Yer Marshas are:
Mike Malinin, Brad Fernquist, Jason Sikora, Rob Cooper, Sarah Meech, Krista Malinin, and Brian Schulmeister, mixed by the inimitable PDH.
If the first album was too discordant for you, this might be more your speed. I honestly like this record a lot, and not just in an “Oh, this is pretty good for a drummer from a band I already like” sort of way. I legitimately enjoy this album, and it’s something I would listen to even if Mike wasn’t involved. It’s super catchy and succinct, and I love the combination of boysingers and girlsingers. I love that the album has movement and different sounds, but it still feels incredibly cohesive, and just a little bit quirky.
We’re two albums into the forty marshas experience, and I’m loving it. I can’t wait to see where the next thirty-eight records take us.
forty marshas links:
buy the album
official site
blog
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