Marnie Stern

Marnie Stern is one of the best things that ever happend to my music collection. If my CDs came to life in the middle of the night a la the Toy Story movies, she would smoke Camel Lights, tell outlandish stories of the road, and spin her music until just before I awoke, making all the other discs very nervous. She would make a racket. Edgy but totally sweet. Slightly unpredictable and ready to kick you in the face with a designer shoe if you deserve it. All the guy discs (even a very confident, post-Grammy The Suburbs) would be intimidated but drawn in by her.

I love that Stern has a blog called The Vagina Monoblog. I love her videos. I love that she named her second record This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That and then says she doesn't know the name of the album. She interviews well and is cute as hell. Sorry, but she is. It doesn't matter or anything. But its true.

Much ink has been spilled about Stern's guitar-playing abilities. Does finger-tapping equal guitar mastery? Does she, in fact, "shred" or does she just repeat little guitar lines over and over again? Where's the improvisation during live performances?

I don't give a shit.

Stern makes music of which anyone should be proud. No one says you need to be indie-rock Clapton to be a great rock song-writer. No one should ever say that... that would just be awful. Seriously. You heard what that guy tried to do to reggae, right? I digress. In short, Stern kills it on guitar. It's fast and has bounce thanks to her preferred tapping technique. It provides melody and rhythm simultaneously. It's insane and catchy and I don't care if it is difficult or ground-breaking. It makes me walk faster and makes me smile every time.

A more understandable debate concerns the merits of her singing. A lot of people don't dig on her high-pitched vocals. I get that, but I like her voice nearly all of the time. Truth be told, I'm not a huge appreciator of great singers. Even still, there is something kind of awesomely quirky about her delivery that is spot on for her music. Also, Stern's vocals totally soar for choruses which makes these songs exciting rather than just cool sounding guitar runs. One last, huge point; the rhythm section is awesome. Zach Hill, known for his crazy Hella beats, is a perfect foil to Stern.

Here are a few songs from Stern's records that just scratch the surface. Enjoy.

From Marnie Stern (Kill Rock Stars, 2010)
For Ash
Transparency Is the New Mystery

From This Is It... (Kill Rock Stars, 2008)
Shea Stadium

From In Advance of the Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars, 2007)
Every Single Line Means Something

Stern will be appearing at the Red Palace on March 2 with Tera Melos.