Customer Reviews

Angels With Dirty Faces

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Angels With Dirty Faces has a slightly softer edge than MATM's spectacular previous release, More Seduction, but the most important aspect of the new album is that it shows the excellent songwriting exhibited on the previous disc was no fluke. One great song after another tumbles out of Angels, with nothing that's less than inspired anywhere in sight. MATM has proven they can do a wonderful job with covers, but Manda's original material is what shines most brightly here. Beyond-catchy songs like Say Anything, Lipstick, Simple Things and Boys Will Be Boys remain in one's head long after the last note has played.

The incredibly fun, catchy songs are what allow this record to be great, but the effect on the listener wouldn't be the same without a strong band to back them up. Manda plays a very capable bass, Joe Damage offers sharp, very well-crafted guitar work, the newly added Elias Dubok plays an important role on keyboards, and powerhouse drummer Mark Slak helps bring everything together and prevents the sound from ever getting TOO soft. There are some obvious 80's influences here, but the sound is not retro - Manda & Co. are definining their own little homeplace in today's musical world.

Manda & The Marbles want to take us all for a sonic joyride. I can't imagine why anyone who enjoys rock & roll would want to resist.

I can't believe how much I like this cd. Something new surprises me every time I give it a spin. At first I was hooked by the super catchy songs, then I realized there was something special under all those addictive rhythms. It seems that every song has a standout line that is super quotable. This band just really knows how to write songs. The lyrics are sometimes clever, sometimes poignant and always worth a closer listen. This band isn't just a delicious candy shell, it has the chocolate filling to match.

If you're looking for music that is fun to listen to, or looking for songs about more than the same old cliches this cd is worth picking up. Its nice to know thst there's someone out there writing music that has style and substance.

This is the best band I've heard in years. Reminds me of Liz Larin or a grown up version of the Go Go's (if they had ever grown up). Every time a song neared its end, I found myself becoming eager to hear the next selection. I found myself thinking, 'Damn I wish I could sing like that' and then 'Damn I wish I could write like that'. I will be buying everything that comes from Manda.

This CD rules, pure and simple! It's as close to a perfect CD as you can possibly get. Manda and the Marbles are an incredible new wave/power pop band from Columbus, OH, who play some of the catchiest (But still hard rocking) pop tunes I have ever heard. Manda's sweet but tough voice is a wonder to behold, while Joe's guitar and Mark's drums toughen up the sound. Elias' keyboards add a subtle texture and give some of the songs a cool 80s feel to them.

The CD starts off with a great rabble rousing track, "The Kids Just Wanna Dance," and if it doesn't get you off your feet and dancing, you might want to check your pulse. "Lipstick" sounds like a lost Cars' song, while "Simple Things" beautifully showcases the band's balance between light and heavy. "Boys Will Be Boys" is a wry look at a rumble.

The band will be hitting the road soon, so get this CD so you can familiarize yourself with the material before they come to your town. If they do come, don't miss them, because they're even more amazing live than they are on their CD, if such a thing is possible.

BTW, only a retard would think this band and their new CD is retarded. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be saying that...it's insulting to those who do suffer from mental retardation.

Mike

Only a few times in life does one find a perfect album; that collection of songs that gives a voice to the ideas and feelings you have but are unable to articulate, a record that you can't help but sing along with, a record that you love from start to finish, that stays in your CD player and your head for far longer that it ever probably should. When I randomly happened to come across Manda and the Marbles' "More Seduction," I found just such an album. Sure, it was just a small release from some band in Ohio, but for me it ranks among my favorite albums of all time.

Such a work is not easily followed, and it seems that the Marbles were ready and willing to face that demon down and give it a shot with their 2004 release "Angels with Dirty Faces." They seem to have taken the right approach with this new album, which oddly enough shares its name with a 1930s gangster flick that has seemingly fallen into obscurity. Manda and the Marbles obviously did not set out to duplicate the style or substance of "More Seduction," but rather moved laterally, forging a new sonic path that veers away from their punk styling and more toward the experimental fronts of New Wave form.

Departing from the simple crunchy chords, thumping bass lines, and helicopter drums of their previous works, the Marbles have blended the keyboards straight into the forefront, letting their punk roots stay in the background. What results is a mixture of pop, punk and New Wave that seems to have been inspired by the same muse that gave rise to Blondie once upon a time.

This time around, the Marbles are more melodic, more haunting, and seemingly more relaxed. With "More Seduction" the Marbles still had something to prove, to themselves and to their audience, on "Angels with Dirty Faces" they find themselves free to move on, their street-cred established, liberated to experiment, to slow down, to take a stroll through their full speed.

Although "Angels with Dirty Faces" lacks the production values of "More Seduction" it is by far a more interesting and complicated album, both sonically and emotionally. Previously, the Marbles had presented the portrait of a dreamer; someone who sees the world and the pain it brings and is forced to look away to a better and brighter future. Now, the Marbles seems to have woken up from that dream, and "Angels with Dirty Faces" is definitely a more grown up album. It pours its way past hope, past dreams, to a place where longing for the past and for the future meet; a present tense album full of realism in all its forms from the quirky, funny things in life, to the morose dejection we all feel. The album allows the Marbles to confront their lives on their own terms in a sonically complex and alluring expansion on their previous musical styles.

"Angels with Dirty Faces" is not a not a move foreword for the Marbles, but a move inward.

There are definite standouts from the album: "Simple Things;" a dreamy and powerful confrontation between expectation and reality that Avril Lavign wishes her record company had written for her, "Lipstick;" a fun song about sex, power and how they delicately mix in with life that deserves some serious radio play, "Ode to Rock;" a song that makes you feel guilty for just bobbing your head slightly at Marbles shows, "Let Them Talk:" the natural flipside to "Seduction,: a show-closer that can't but make you feel good when you listen to it, and "Seventeen;" the perfect reminiscences of suburban youth, a song that captures that feeling of longing and loss that we all feel every now and then.

"Angels with Dirty Faces" is not "More Seduction." That's a good thing. Both albums are exactly what they need to be. While departing from their earlier style, Mark, Joe, Manda and Elias have created a new sound and a new form. Although they've taken to experimentation, although they've mixed a more prominent New Wave sound into their classic and proven punk rock base, they haven't lost their honesty and they haven't lost their ability to put into words what we all feel. Most importantly, they've shown that they can mature, that they can change and that they can move on from their roots while all the while they manage to keep their CD in my stereo for weeks at a time. Manda and the Marbles' "Angels with Dirty Faces" may not be the best album ever made, it may not change the world, but the plain and simple fact is that I've listened to it every day on my way to and from work ever since I got it. Never underestimate Manda and the Marbles.

I've loved everything by this band and this is no exception! Great songs! Great sound! Worth it!

I love this album, and you probably will too. Thought I'd post some reviews that are out there that may help you decide if you'd be into it:

"The furious threesome, fronted by angelic bassist Manda, charm us with Blondie/Joan Jett vocals and synthesizers galore. Angels With Dirty Faces has an excellent balance of power pop and punk, especially on cuts like "Ode To Rock" and "Boys Will Be Boys", and flows into more mellow tunes like "Seventeen". This album has a wide range of melodies and is well put together, so much so that anyone can find something to like about it." - Sal Swayzo - Tastes Like Chicken

" it's about dancing, not art. Angels is a fabulous party with big bangs, neon socks and cheap beer. The Marbles do offer the quieter, semi-acoustic "Seventeen", a dramatic and delightful summer-y song dedicated to lost youth and puppy love. But they jump back into the fire before leaving their audience with the fist-pumper "Let Them Talk".For a good time, forget that lame dude's 864-5789 number and dial up Manda & The Marbles. They channel the spirit of bands long gone, but with a boundless energy that saves them from being accused of merely rehashing the past." - Anna Giulani - Girlstown Productions

One of my favorite albums of all time has been "Seduction" by Manda and the Marbles, but I must say, "Angels With Dirty Faces" runs circles around it. All 12 tracks are truly unique and the album avoids blending into itself like a lot of bands do. Listening to the CD through a couple of times will be quite the experience as you'll find yourself getting multiple songs stuck in your head at once.

I've owned this album for a few days now and this is the first time in my couple years at Amazon I've ever felt the need to rate something; this album is really something special. If replay value is a concern I've had this in my CD player for around 20 hours straight and it's even catchier than the first time I heard it.

Favorite songs include "Confidential" "Let Them Talk" and "Ode to Rock," all of which are single material as far as I'm concerned, but then again the whole record is. Do yourself a favor and BUY IT!

Retarded, in all aspects and meanings. What? Is she trying to rip off Veruca Salt or does she just have no talent. The husband is okay.