Indie- Smindie!
So here we have something just a little bit different. Hailed as Canada's 'best-kept-secret', this would normally be the part of the review that I would talk about Mountie-Wrestling, lumberjacks, moose-loving and beaver-bating, but of course I'm too professional to lower this review down into those areas!
It is interesting to note that The Marble Index chose to record their album in Wigan, England as opposed to more glamorous locations such as Toronto, California or Hull. The band shared a room above the studio for 3 cold weeks. The studio was actually a converted metal barn which lacked running hot water – welcome to Northern Blightly, lads!
From the outset you can tell there is a strange little mixture of Brit-influenced indie-rock, but there are undertones of bands like Audioslave, or even Zepplin. This is never more apparent than in first song, 'I Believe', which has a deep chugging riff ripped from the seventies. The first song, and indeed the first single to be taken from this album, 'Not So Bright' is a little more pop/rock with a gentle melodic guitars coming out like an arm-wrestle between Radiohead and Coldplay, and you can see that there is a definite appreciation of Brit-rock. 'That Day' has elements of Razorlight in a simplistic beginning that builds into a rocking rant. Good stuff.
'Alright By Now' has jingling guitars and catchy melodies, whereas there is the wonderful drumming, and extended riff onslaught on 'On The Phone', that has a 70's influence on the skinny-ties, and floppy indie hair, and simple harmonies. 'Missing File' is a little more back to business with punchy vocals and pogo guitars. "I left my hardest day, underneath this house," sings Brad Germain, and this gives you an idea as to the complexity of the lyrics that aren't just easy rhymers!
There is even an emo slant to 'Days Are Longer', but you can't hold this against them as the song is a mid-tempo number that gets into your head, refusing to leave. This leads us to the haunting song, 'I Die' with its heavy-echoed vocals and gentle beat. A nice goth-ballad. Last song, 'A Lot Of These Things' finishes the album on a high with an up tempo jazz beat, and vocals that are a cross between Jim Morrison and Chris Cornell.
The Marble Index play indie-fused-rock which although could be seen as pretty middle-of-the-road it does jump every now and then into an unexpected genre, peaking with the fast-paced single 'I Believe' and its dark opposite 'I Die'. I can't see them particularly settling the world on fire, but I'm sure that they will build up a big fan base. The production is clean and the band sound tight but I just get the feeling that nothing here is new, and although it sounds quite nice, I'm pretty sure I've heard this before.