Listen to my Banjo (The Woes & Marah)
So I download a helluva lot of music from MP3 Blogland. So much so that sometimes I don’t actually hear the tunes until months later when I’m kickin’ back listening to my mp3 collection on shuffle. It was recently that I came across a tune by The Woes that was posted on Bars & Guitars back in the spring. The tune is “That’s All, Good Night,” and it features a banjo, an accordion, harmonica, bass, and gravelly voiced singer Osei Essed. The banjo and the chord changes reminded me of another tune by Philly’s Marah: a song called “Phantom Eyes”, from their amazing late 90’s debut, ‘Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight’.
So I put ’em together for your listening pleasure. Compare, contrast and comment.
I call it… Black Phantom!
00:00 – 04:06 :: The Woes – “That’s All, Good Night” – from a 7 song EP entitles ‘Coalmine’ – apparently not to be found for sale, but check out their My Space site, where they have a few additional tunes you can stream.
04:07 – 06:35 :: Marah – “Phantom Eyes” – from ‘Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight’ [Buy]2021 update… that mp3 is long gone, but here are the tunes. 16 years later, still worth a listen!
New Marah Tune
I’ve posted about Marah a few times before: here here and here. I will always follow these guys because they pretty much carried me through the summer of 2000. Their album ‘Kids in Philly’ was always in the background, and I saw them in Tempe at the sweltering Long Wongs, and a week earlier opening for Steve Earle at the House of Blues in West Hollywood.
So their new album, ‘If You Didn’t Laugh, You’d Cry’ comes out on October 18th on Yep Roc Records. Here’s a sneak peek at the album. This comes from the Phill Jupitus Breakfast Show on BBC 6 Music. The audio is from the 64kbbs stream of the show. Really a cool show. You can check out the playlists on the web site, and listen to the last week’s worth of shows.
Marah: Demon of White Sadness
- Check them out on Amazon.
A Song about War – Marah’s Round Eye Blues
OK, so I keep coming back to Marah. Yeah, well, I love ’em… their second album, ‘Kids in Philly’, includes a poignant, powerful, and very well-written tune from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran. The song is “Round Eye Blues”, and it’s full of intense imagery and musical references of the day:
The chorus:
“Take the hits boys take the hits
don’t smoke your bible and lose your wits
’cause the sky is filled with shrapnel,
& your eyes are filled with tears.
Hold your breath boys hold your breath,
finger your trigger and welcome death
’cause the choppers’ filled with your gutshot friends
& your hearts are filled with fear.”From the opening cadence of the drums to the outro to the tune of the Ronette’s “Be My Baby”, this song’ll grab you by the shirt collar and take you on a journey…
Marah – Round Eye Blues
Photo of Marah @ Long Wongs, Tempe, AZ – August 2000, 280 degrees F
The Amazing Bielanko Brothers – Marah
I first discovered Marah through a Steve Earle interview I read where he mentioned that “Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later Tonight”, their 1998 debut album, was one of his favorite albums of the year. He went on to sign them to his label, and they released 2000’s ‘Kids in Philly’. They are a fresh, no BS, bare bones rock n’ roll band, full of such innovative and imaginative lyrics, and on top of that, they rock out with a banjo. Dave and Serge Bielanko of Philadelphia are the masterminds behind Marah. They released ‘20,000 Streets under the Sky’ last year, another great release.
If you EVER get the chance to see these guys live, please do. I saw them twice in 2000: once opening for Steve Earle at House of Blues in Hollywood, and a few days later in a small sweat-soaked bar (Long Wong’s) in my then hometown of Tempe, AZ. It was about 200 friggin’ degrees in there, and I was drinking Hefe Weizen like it was lemonade, sitting 5 feet from the band. Certainly one of the most incredible live show experiences of my life. Some kind soul recorded the show and shared it with me so I can always go back and listen to my “WOOO!”s. They have a large following in Europe and tour extensively there, so keep your eyes open overseas as well. You won’t be disappointed.
So this is my favorite song from their debut. Listen, enjoy, and check out more of their music…
Listen: Marah – “Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft”
Buy: ‘Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later Tonight’ on Amazon
Site: Marah-USA.comPhoto credit: Pete – taken at Long Wong’s in Tempe, AZ (8-12-2000)
I’ll be your sure thing…
Here’s a 2-minute pop masterpiece by a band out of south Philadelphia who call themselves Marah. They caught my attention a few years ago when they released Kids in Philly, an album chock full of powerful lyrics and imagery, and bare bones rock n roll. They sort of went off the deep end with their next release (Float Away with the Friday Night Gods), but holy $#%@#, they are back this year with 20,000 Streets Under the Sky, one of my favorite albums of 2004 (Yeah, I’m 34 years old, and I will call them albums for the rest of my life!).
Search
