Marvelous Mark - Buzzin' LP - Pink Vinyl (/100)

Drunken Sailor (2017)

This Marvelous Mark album is comprised of some new songs as well as a bunch of tunes from prior EPs that have been added in to fill out the LP.  While I never quite seem to love Marvelous Mark songs quite as much as the songs he was cranking out in his prior band, Marvelous Darlings, there are some fantastic tunes on this album.

While Marvelous Darlings traded in big pop choruses and a healthy amount of swagger, Marvelous Mark dives deeper into pure pop bringing together a sound that's part 90's guitar pop bands like The Posies, but combined with the sort of upbeat fuzz you'll find in modern bands like Wavves.  Every one of the songs on Buzzin' is drenched in sugary melodies with hooks to match.  

I guess part of me doesn't love this album quite as much as I normally would since I've heard so many of the songs before, but if you only have Mark's last album Crushin', this is a pretty essential pick up.  Even if you have the singles, the new songs exclusive to this release are still great, so I can't really imagine passing on this record no matter what your existing collection looks like.

Marvelous Mark - Buzzin':

https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/buzzin-lp

Marvelous Mark - Crushin' LP - Yellow Vinyl (/100)

Drunken Sailor (2016)

We're pretty deep into February at this point and you may have noticed that there has been a severe lack of new releases featured on this website.  I'm not sure if the year is off to a slow start in general, or if I'm just being extra picky this year.  It's probably a combination of the two, but I can say without hesitation that this Marvelous Mark record is the first really great album that I've heard this year.

Marvelous Mark used to play in one of my favorite bands, Marvelous Darlings.  Though they are sadly missed I can take solace in the fact that Mark has churned out a pretty great little record on his own.  While Marvelous Mark is missing some of the balls to the wall energy and the swagger of Marvelous Darlings, he appears to have won custody of all of the hooks.  

Each song on this record is a perfect little guitar pop masterpiece.  Though everything is pretty mid tempo, the album has a perfect lazy Sunday afternoon vibe to them.  If I had a porch and a lawn chair, all I would need is a glass of lemonade and this record and you could color me a happy dude.

This record reminds me a bit of some of that 90's major label rock that I like so much; the slower moments of Fig Dish or maybe even Pluto with a fuzzier sound and a smaller recording budget.  No matter the reference you want to throw at Crushin', it can simply be said that this is a very good record and one that I've been listening to pretty nonstop since I picked it up.

Marvelous Mark - Crushin' LP:

https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/crushin-lp

Marvelous Mark - Bite Me 7" - Blue Vinyl (/100)

Drunken Sailor (2015)

Marvelous Darlings haven't had any records out in a few years, but for a several year run they released some of my absolute favorite 7"s.  The compilation of those records, Single Life, is a record I still spin all the time.  The fact that they split up still bums me out on a semi regular basis.  Ben Cook is still busy playing in Fucked Up and Young Governor, but this is the first record by Marvelous Mark that I've been able to grab.

It's not the first record he's released.  That honor goes to a lathe cut 7" put out by Ben Cook's label that I was too cheap to buy.  Luckily the A side of that record is the lead off song on this new 7".  "Bite Me" may not qualify as Marvelous Darlings 2.0, but it's actually a really great guitar pop song that reminds me a lot of early Ash.  Sure, maybe not as polished, but the hooks and melodies are still there.

"Waiting" keeps up that mid tempo motif with a positively Doughboys-esque rocker.  Again, I can't say it sounds much like the Marvelous Darlings did, but this is a great song and my favorite on the 7".  The B side wraps up with the frantic "I'm Freaking Out."  It's probably the song that sounds closest to Mark's prior band as it's much faster than the prior two, but again this is a sound much more at home with the mid 90's Senseless Things/Doughboys crowd.

It's a funny thing, I've missed the Marvelous Darlings so much, you'd think I'd be pretty bummed that the songs on this record really don't sound much like that.  Luckily, Mark has tapped into another vein of music that is right up my alley.  If you are into big 90's guitars and catchy songs, you'll be hard pressed to find a better 7" than this.

Marvelous Mark - Bite Me 7":

https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bite-me-7-ep