Marko Bruiser – “Black & Blue Volume 1”
I don’t have to write a word.
This is not my job, though it is my passion.
I don’t get paid a cent, so I write about who I want and I say what I want to say.
I write about musicians who go about their passion the same way. So, I think it all works out well.
Though, the musicians sacrifice a lot more than Andy or I do. Traveling far away to play gigs for little cash, spending time and money for practice places and recordings.
While Andy and I sit comfy at home pressing keys on our laptops.
So please, no acclaim for us.
But of last years releases that I reviewed, Marco & The Bruisers release just won best of the year. (It will be online next week, with my Best of 2019).
So though, I would not say this is equal to winning the Grammy, the Oscar or some pitiful, music award- those recordings were the best for me!
Let’s keep an open ear and see how he fares without any friends by his side:
“Another Place” is another reason Marko’s music works so great for me. This song sounds like Kurt Cobain singing with The Ramones while J. Marcis of Dinosaur Jr. sits in on guitar. Yes, it straddles a fine line between alternative and punk and possibly, indi but falls face forward, falling plunk, at full force, into the lap of punk. This song is a song of wanderlust that could be accused of being chock-full of country rock licks. Or maybe for wearing its heart too fully on its sleeve. “Would you mind wasting all your time with a guy like me?…disappear to another town, another state.” I don’t want to move anywhere from here and I, also don’t want to move my ears an inch away from a song as great as this.
“Make It Through The Day” is a reggae number with some nimble playing by Jimmy West Jr. Hey, reggae is not my thing, mon. Though, Bob Marley and The Clash made me think different about this at times. “This world is a crazy place to be. It’s hard to believe everything will be okay.” And it’s hard for me to believe, I’m actually digging this song so much, mon. The guitar solo is wonderfully dissonant reminding me of one of my favorite guitarists, Marc Ribot, who played for Tom Waits amongst others. What’s so unique about this song, I finally realize, is there is no bass! A spooky, eerie tremendous tune.
“3am” has lyrics like “Where is my heartbeat? I can’t feel my heartbeat. I can’t feel anything at all. I start to freak out, now. ‘Cause everything is numb.” For someone my age this should be a heart attack, but for Marco’s, more likely a panic attack. A natural reaction to all the stress life throws at young people nowadays, while in my youth I felt “nothing at all” as a nihilistic rejection of society. But this melodic punk number full of energy, emotion and excitement makes me believe everything will be all right in society, made right, corrected by the young.
“Shaking Again” starts out with a tremolo, tremulous beginnings that recall “1979” by the Smashing Pumpkins to me. And, I’m sorry, but I do like that band. And yes, I do like this song. “One more drink, yeah, one more drink. Keep drowning yourself and you don’t have to think…I don’t want to be who I am. I’m on the couch shaking again.” This is not a song about someone having fun drinking but is having “cold turkey” withdrawal from alcohol. This is when you stop drinking from the bottle because the bottle is drinking from you. This is a very honest song, a personal song recalling Lou Reed’s “Waves Of Fear” to me. No bass on this song, much like “Make It Through The Day,” but what is here is emotion, honesty and poignancy- and the best kind of self-redemption.
I don’t have to write a word.
But I seem to have some kind of compulsion to do so, to try and express the pure emotion, exhilarating energy, the pain and art that the musicians I write about whom create their work so perfectly.
And I fail miserably.
But that’s to be expected.
I remember telling Andy, just before we put Thrash ‘N Bang online, and when he still did some of the writing, that we were going to try, in our writing, to match all the power, all the feeling, all the truth and passion of what the punk bands, we will write about, play.
He readily agreed.
And I told him, “Though we will never succeed in doing that, we will always fall short. They have loud amplifiers and PA systems, we have keys on our laptops. But you know, that won’t stop us, because we’re gonna try.”
And that’s what I do.
And though, I still know I fail.
I really don’t mind this at all.
Because I know that the passion and the guts on recordings, as great as this one. That even if I can grasp just a bit of it, relate just a bit of its’ wonderfulness- then I know I’ve done my best.
So, as I fail once again to describe how amazing and awesome this recording is.
I feel privileged to listen to and hold one more prefect gem in my hands.
(Slimedog)
