The first thing that hits you is the awesome gravity of that guitar. Marnie Stern is probably the cutest, most effervescent noise rocker out there, but she is damn serious about her guitar.
Yeah, she shreds. And yes, she’s made finger-tapping cool (again?). And drummer Zach Hill is a beast. And she’s a gurl, so what. Hype isn’t easy, but that guitar just bulldozes it all.
Stern‘s Kill Rock Stars debut In Advance Of The Broken Arm is a web of finger-tapped Van Halen-cum-Sonic Youth noise and free-rock spazz drums. It’s a sensational racket far from subtlety, and the live show is no different.
“Vibrational Match” opened the Chicago set with guitar squiggles more suited to an arena than a bar, and I felt transported. Until now, Stern’s tapping heroics had been backed by an iPod, but her new band, also including Robby Moncrieff on second guitar, are a different beast.
A new band they are, and the trio is still finding it’s groove. I have no doubt that they will find said groove, as the force of this band is already astonishing. Each song was a galvanic blast of guitar interplay and firebrand drumming. Free of studio artifice, “Every Single Line Means Something” was even more nervy, with Stern’s deceptively beautiful voice taking on a more human dimension.
The glorious, slow-building finale “Patterns of a Diamond Ceiling” also surpassed its studio counterpart for sheer, visceral stomp. This is music unlike anything else, guitar hero or not, and the show was a hoot. Catching Stern on tour is not to be missed.
– Mike McGovern
Marnie Stern: “Every Single Line Means Something”