Album Review: Marrow - The Gold Standard
By Kevin Biggs, Contributor
[Self-released; 2015]
Rating: 2/5
Key Tracks: “Paulson”
Only so often can a band (like Chicago’s very own Kids These Days) blend jazz, hip-hop and alternative rock to find a sound that works. When the band split in 2013, rapper Vic Mensa signed to Roc-A-Fella Records while three of the remaining members were left to form Marrow.
The Gold Standard, Marrow’s debut album, still reaches to stick that innovative fusion of genres that Kids These Days had. However, it doesn’t.
That’s not to say there’s no talent here; the musicians are capable of making some decent music. The problem is a lack of consistency in genre, especially in the middle of the album. For instance, the fourth track “Oceans Of Glory” starts out as an upbeat, folky, acoustic jam until halfway through when dreamy piano keys and dissonant guitar strokes lead into a psychedelic, electro-punk beat. "The Gold Standard” starts off with a gothic-Americana tune that gets interrupted by increasingly loud, thumping guitar before its sudden end. This pattern persists throughout the middle of the album, disrupting the flow of whatever you thought you were listening to.
The album had potential. Each song could have worked in its own right had it not been interrupted by electric noise, ominous piano melodies, roaring saxophones and even a gospel choir at one point.
The band has potential. The classic alternative rock in the beginning of the album worked, specifically on “Paulson,” an upbeat ‘80s punk song that alters into a head-banging hard rock chorus. The end of the album has an indie folk sound that could potentially satisfy. “Leave Grounds Stay” is a charming country-folk tune with a simple melody and emotive lyrics about the death of a friend. “I say farewell, wind / You’re behind me in the end / Because you’ve known me longer than him and all of them / Oh, I need my friend.”
Marrow can make good music. The issue is they have to decide what kind. Alternative? Folk? It doesn’t really matter. They just can’t keep making that jumbled mess of noise they presented in the meat of their debut.
