A House Full of Friend

[coll] A House Full of Friends – Magic Marker Records
Reviewed by Peter 3-19-2005

A solid collection of pop/indie/punk which the liner notes describe as “a historical document” sampling some of the artists who played at the Magic Marker House. There are some mediocre tracks sprinkled in, but almost everything is pretty good if not great. The tracks in the middle that I starred stuck out as excellent but the absence of stars towards the end does not mean they’re not quality tracks. Very good collection!

FCC Clean
1. * 2:11 – Cowboy - 3s intro of quiet talking. Up-beat, driving rock with sweet, melodic riff and clear, youthful female vox.
2. 2:22 – The Lucksmiths – Upbeat in a 60’s pop way w/ clear British male lead vox and harmony.
3. 5:30 – Mates of State – Mid-tempo, upbeat. Starts with synthesized riff and xylophone. Song is very busy, lot’s of musical contrast. Solid male + female vox take turns w/ lead and support. Lyrics are repetitive. Cool, busy, electronic musical solo towards end.
4. 2:23 – Ashley Park – Mid-tempo, late-Beatles, simple imaginative lyrics. Male lead w/ female backup
5. 3:43 – I live the Life of a Movie Star Secret Hideout – More down-tempo and stripped-down. Male vox and simple guitar w/ pretty xylophone (or electronics?).
6. 1:04 – The Thermals – Upbeat, distorted punk vox + heavy guitar w/ 10s of distortion at the end that finishes abruptly.
7. * 4:01 – Eux Autres - “Ten thousand lemons don’t make a renegade” – spoken-lyric intro, then exchange of male and female vox which works well. Very cool guitar riff drives the song, then becomes more distorted and punk-y. Last minute has cool combination of speaking (much in French) and shrieking (in a fun way) to round out a very cool, cheeky, song.
8. ** 3:21 – Benji Cossa – I love this down-tempo, lo-fi, pretty, great track. Male vox w/ supporting harmony, choppy percussion, throaty brass, acoustic guitar, nice lyrics and chill, intimate, genuinely house-party feel.
9. 2:36 – Mosquitoes – Simple, mid-tempo, distorted, early-punk sound. Male vox and slightly silly lyrics.
10. 2:56 – Everybody Else – Mid/up tempo sounds like an Elvis Costello song (esp. the vox). Picks up into more rockin’ track w/ distorted guitar and fast vox in a 90’s pop way.
11. 3:14 – Masters of the Hemisphere – Up-tempo pop but melodramatic lyrics and vox about waiting for a loved on. Male harmonies, very straightforward. Meh, a little bland.
12. * 2:05 – The Crabs – Mid-tempo, punk love-song. Good, driving, distorted guitar riff. Clear male vox with pretty female support aren’t really punk. Some solid lyrics about doing anything for her.
13. ** 2:51 – Cool punkish pop – amusing and sad at the same time. Guitar has a western feel at first, an accordion joins later. Great vox, great instrumentation – sweet track.
14. * 3:06 – Dear Nora – Mid-tempo, lo-fi female vox singing to a woman – pretty but bare. Guitar work is simple too, with some distortion and crescendos. Harmonies at the end, vocal end (one more verse in the last 30s).
15. * 3:38 – My Little Brother – Mid-tempo Brit-pop w/ a Shins feel through the vox, some harmonies. Pretty song about missing his brother and connecting through music.
16. 3:07 – The Brother Egg – pretty, down-tempo acoustic song w/ nice male lead vox singing decent lyrics. Cool hints at distorted male vox in background. Some nice instrumental sections.
17. * 1:41 – Dennis Driscoll – Immediate but quiet distorted punkish guitar riff with hints of Bowie. Cool, detached, quiet male vox on top. The two elements sound like their from different songs, but work very well together. Creates expectancy of an explosion of energy that never comes. Nice.
18. 2:47 – Boycrazy – Cool bass/drum riff intro. Up-tempo but with restrained evergy, Male lead vox are low and controlled, female support is high, pretty, young. Includes: piano (quite good), brass (cheesy), electronic hints, somewhat abrupt ending. Pretty good overall.
19. 2:27 – Up-tempo, energetic female harmonies. Driving, distorted, punkish guitar riff throughout. Some cool guitar work over this riff towards the end. Solid track.
20. 3:43 – The Minders – Straightforward, mid-tempo pop w/ clear male lead and basic electric guitar. 80’s electronic effects towards end. Another solid track.
21. * 2:33 – The Shins – Cool late-Beatles feel and early American pop. Classic Shins harmonies, acoustic guitar and hand-clapping. Nicely done.
22. 2:36 – The Galactic Heroes – Upbeat pop with male lead and supporting harmony over simple but effective guitar riff. It’s ok – not bad.
23. 2:53 – The Bartlebees & Anja – Up-tempo, straightforward, French pop.Deep, pretty, female lead w/ male support for the chorus. “Don’t leave me.”
24. 6:31 - #Poundsign# - Mid/up-tempo synthesized percussion intro. Electric organ melody; airy male vox (Duran Duran mixed w/ Floyd?). 80’s electronic breakdown in the middle – takes the song to a more pop feel over the chill psych it starts with.
25. 3:09 – Andrew Kaffer – Pretty titular track: lo-fi, stripped-down, emotional male lead; strummed acoustic guitar. Drums are inserted strangely and create a sort of industrial effect – not really sure what he was going for.
26. * 3:38 – Dressy Bessy – Up-tempo pop with good lyrics. Solid female vox and straightforward distorted guitar riff. Nice.
27. 4:04 – The Aislers Set – Down-tempo, pop (I thought of Sea Change-era Beck) with airy female vox and simple electric guitar work. Electric organ in the verses.
28. 3:39 – Aerospace – Up-tempo, airy pop w/ effeminate, male vocals. Repetitive, clean electric guitar riff; lo-fi male lead w/ female backup.
29. 2:34 – The Sporting Life – Up-tempo, strummy, clean, electric guitar riff. Lo-fi male lead w/ female backup. Instrumentation is good, lyrics are decent; stereo mixing feels a little strange.
30. 4:39 – Tullycraft – Mid-tempo pop. Piano w/ drum machine intro. Vox are interesting in a familiar way – maybe Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins)? Snapping and accordion.
31. 2:21 – Lunchbox – Up-tempo pop. Distorted vox over slow piano (very cool and some crazy work towards the end) and even, driving, guitar riff works pretty well. Speaking and noise at end – slightly abrupt.
32. 5:15 – Up-tempo pop w/ piano and upbeat drums and male harmonies. Pop ballad about high school love until late life. Acoustic guitar, violin – pretty sappy overall.
33. 3:52 – The Salteen – Pop with a disco feel at first, 70’s pop feel overall (esp. brass at the end). Good, strong, female vox interchanged w/ male vox.
34. * 1:58 – The Softies – Live cut that apparently finished the concert. Pretty, simple pop with airy female vox over simple, good electric guitar. Straightforward, self-explanatory love song. Nice ending.