Marie Stella - Trust

Crank this album. Really twist the volume knob beyond your comfort level.

Trust me.

Marie Stella's six song Trust is meant to be played loud. It starts with a distorted guitar creeping around and ends with a decaying synth line and in between is 20 minutes of joyful reverie in different ways to make a song build and crash.

There's a 90's alternative feel to the album, but I feel like that's a disservice. The twisting warp and weft of Bryan Bruchman and Matthew Erickson's zipping guitars, the interplay of female vocals (courtesy lead singer Sidney Bourke and back-up Katherine Hulit), Derek Gierhan's crashing drums (he sat in on the recording, the drumming is now in the hands of Max Heinz)... they create a sound that's both familiar and unique. They weave a powerful tapestry.

Marie Stella is fluent in dynamic range. Blue Blood, for instance, starts off simply with Sidney singing over all-or-nothing instrumentation. Guitars, bass and drums kick in and then die out. 15 seconds in she sings "I don't need a lover to bring me down" and the song changes moods, increasing the energy with a steady beat and by 25 seconds, she's affirming that her identity doesn't hinge on someone else' validation and the song kicks into high gear, it's become a thumping, driven machine.

Songs like 1985 and Never are fast on the attack. Each features a guitar intro - the hook on Never is particularly grabbing - that builds into a energetic melee. Never crashes around in its newfound place and then pulls it back... creating a quiet place for Sidney to sing the verse. That segues into a building prechorus that hitches and carries into a catchy, wordless chorus. Never takes it for another go around, but by the time it reaches the chorus again, Katherine has joined in. She echoes Sidney's "ohs" while Sidney adds a suicidal line to the chorus, turning it's catchy funness on its ear.

Ron Harrity recorded, mixed and mastered Trust at Forest City. His production is clear and listening on headphones provides a lot of localization that adds to the tracks. Bryan's mean guitar cuts a wandering scar on Taken, which builds itself out of an atmospheric soup into a sinister cacophony of frenzied drums and adrenaline bass. Guitars and synth bounce off each other in a sonic mosh pit... finally resolving itself into sincere vocals declaring, "No more shenanigans." The track then takes a turn for the chaotic as Sidney and Katherine belt out a punchy chorus.

Harrity captures the interplay of voices and the interplay of guitars with aplomb. What could be noisy and muddy is instead a beautifully crafted and wonderfully dense soundscape. The interweaving vocals and guitars create two strong cords that Marie Stella climbs and builds on.

These elements are, for me, at least, the heart and soul of the band. Marie Stella's fabric of being, if you will.

It's woven with deft complexity and it's worth losing your hearing for.

Marie Stella's release party for Trust is Saturday, June 12th at Bayside Bowl at 8:00 PM. 21+, $5 (cheap!) with Dead Man's Clothes and The Art of Shooting (from Brooklyn).

You can check out Trust streaming on their bandcamp page.

Posted by Krister