Marnie Stern This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That

Bloody hell what a great album this is! We didn't review the CD when it crashed weeks ago but Marnie Stern's unfeasibly titled LP has arrived on wax complete with download. If you, like me, had a dislocated jaw after the sonic onslaught of her last shredder of a record, you'll be in convulsions with this one. Managing to carve out a very unique sound for a female performer, her guitar playing is nuts, like totally virtuoso but completely schizoid & alien. It's like if an eternally riffing Slash were in At the Drive-In doing PCP enhanced Beefheart covers with this possessed & sassy lass belting out some mercurial shit thinly disguised as vocals. Or Sleater-Kinney do King Crimson but with a back pocket full of icy chewing gum. Her speed finger-tapping style rips the bloated heart out of histrionic metal solos and blows some urgent euphoria into them, Zach Hill's olympic jazz flecked math drumming just tops off an already exhilarating cake of championship art rock & visceral angular punk. The songs are often beautifully poppy & adrenalised, impossibly detailed and unbelievably wired. If this woman & her equally dextrous chum are the new face of prog then I'm voting for it. Thankyou K records!