Customer Reviews

In Advance of the Broken Arm

5 star:		(4)
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This album hit me like a Loony Tunes anvil from the sky. I got flattened by the melismatic shredding; the geometric ethereal vocals; the noise mastery; the 70s thick-bellied sci-fi hooks; the far-sighted lyrics.

And then we saw her show. Mother. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. Stern's fingers dance, my friends, while she smiles at you. Zach Hill - just furious, insane. And guitarist Robby Moncrieff is a treasure; he and Stern wove big magic for the ending of This American Life (probably my favorite). Left me breathless.

We shared a cigarette with Her Greatness before the show - what a sweetie. Nothing like what I've heard of New Yorkers. Kidding, kidding! (shout out to Fig Newton!)

Marnie Stern's record here helped restore faith in my generation. Thought we'd all grown up and forgot to rawk out, no prisoners, no visionless angst. I haven't enough arms to pump all the heavy metal salutes this inspires.

After hearing on radio just once a track from this album, I found it in Amazon and straight away ordered. After waiting impatiently for it arrive it finally came. It's been top of my play-list since.

Marnie, what a gentle name for such an amazingly fierce guitar player. Not only can she play fantastically, she sings great lyrics at the same time. Every track sounds live (and dangerous). Marnie Stern brings rock guitar at great speed into the new millenium, both hands on the fret-board! If she ever tours here I'll be in the front row!

Stern's out-of-nowhere debut epic is quite a formidable listen. It's like a musical treadmill, this one. Stern is the most apt candidate for guitarist of the year this side of Mike Barr (who obliterated The Urban Lounge for those with kind of normal expectations when he opened for Gang Gang Dance this month). Listening to this female shredder is truly an endurance test. That may be a bit misleading because Stern has some super catchy, truly accessible tracks here on Broken Arm. It's just that I can't even imagine how some of these guitar lines are possibly being played by a human and there is no letting up through the entire album. Seems fitting that the drumming on the album is completed by none other than Hella mega-drummer Zach Hill (also a Mike Barr collaborator along with everyone else in the world besides you). This is the best pop/rock record set too alien guitar metal in the entire world. I'm not sure how to let you know why you should listen to this. I could reference Deerhoof or maybe the Ladies or something. Either way, In Advance of the Broken Arm will not disappoint and here is a guarantee that you will not want to try out these songs on Guitar Hero (unless your name is Bjorn Turoque). Now let me get some rest because I think that the live version of these songs might give me a heart attack tonight if I'm well rested.

i read the reviews in the ny times and washington post and ordered this album.. the more i listened the more i liked it.the songs stayed with me all day..i have HEALER in my mind now. marnie looks so petite it is hard to imagine that she is such a guitar heroine. her music is strange and compelling..her fingerpicking and tapping is a breathtaking barage of notes and colors.there are offhand references to the likes of plato and rimbaud and a spellbinding and surrealistic tribute to glenn goulds solitude trilogy of radio documentaries. marnies music is the intersection between hendrix and highbrow. the drums of zack hill are the cherry on the top.