Column: Not Quite Nietzsche
Blame it on my parents, but I’m a sucker for classic rock.
And it’s that fascination that this week’s column stems from. Marah is a little bit Rolling Stones, a little bit Bruce Springsteen and a whole lot rock music.
From Philadelphia, Marah brings a post-punk edge to classic rock and the end result is a sound that, while familiar, is fresh enough to keep them away from the retro-revival movement of the Strokes, the Hives and the Raveonettes.
Vocalist David Bielanko’s voice is generic enough to avoid comparisons to their forebearers, while their sound is easily summed as early Springsteen.
Their albums succeed because, despite the easy comparisons their music invites, they are more concerned with playing good music than they are with living up to the comparisons. They always sound assured and, more importantly, never sound like they’re trying to be someone or something other than Marah.
Their latest album, “If You Didn’t Laugh You’d Cry” is case in point. They’re not afraid to move from the Stones-inspired “The Hustle” to the Dylan-esque acoustic guitar and harmonica of “Walt Whitman Bridge” and this meshing of influences creates a sound and a feel that are, for all of their borrowing, unique.
In fact, it all sounds so natural that the listener is left to wonder if Marah has any idea of just how close some of their songs come to imitating what has come before. Of course, I don’t think they’d care.
They’ve updated classic rock and blue-collar lyrics, making them palatable for a generation whose association with them might be negative.
And in a scene dominated by heart-on-sleeve confession and bedroom guitars, they make a bold, listenable statement about what rock music is.
Zach Pendleton is a junior in English. Comments can be sent to zpendleton@cc.usu.edu.