Customer Reviews

Marvelous Things

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Eisley may look sound like a prefab pop band, but no way do they sound like one. Instead it's a sort of clean alternative/indie sound, given a darker shade in their second EP, "Marvelous Things." Musically, it may be better than their first wide release, "Laughing City."

"Marvelous Things" is a through-the-rabbit-hole sort of song, full of strange and fantastical creations (like a bat with butterfly wings). "Memories" is hauntingly melancholy. "Sea King" is a musically upbeat song, with slightly sad lyrics about a sea king who has no love. ("Sea king/I know things/without love/you won't get very far"). "Winter Song" is simplistic compared to the rest of the EP, but is a charming little song.

Eisley's musical talents have clearly grown; these kids have what lasting music needs, and if they continue to flower they will all have a fantastic future. Lyrics are still good ("Oh and marvelous things/but they are/they are/they are/giving me the creeps"), and Eisley shows an increased ability to convey stuff through nuances and hints. (Although I was a little offput by the "you're so silly" line) Clean guitar and lingering keyboard dominate the music, as well as Stacy and Sherri DuPree's high clear vocals.

With greater maturity also comes, for some artists, greater darkness. While I wouldn't call "Marvelous Things" dark, it shows more introspection in the handling of things like materialism and death, without ever being preachy or unsophisticated. The part about the farmer's wife meeting her dead husband again is absolutely amazing.

Production on Eisley's first full-length album is due to start soon, and "Marvelous Things" will help whet appetites for it, just the way a good EP is supposed to do. A full-length album of material like this is well-worth waiting for. For those sick of prefab pop and unmemorable rock, this will inspire you to keep listening to music.

Credit must go to where it belongs... my 14 yr old daughter introduced me to Eisley, and I now absolutely love this band. Six months after their debut EP "Laughing City", Eisley released this second EP in late 2003. Eisley (4 siblings and a friend) reminds me musically of Sixpence None the Richer, another fave band of mine.

"Marvelous Things" (4 tracks, 15 min.) starts off with a blaze with the title track, a hard driving tune with great vocal harmonies, one of the band's trademarks (the lead singer is 15 yrs old, if you can believe it!). "Memories" is in the same vain. "Sea King" is a dreamy track, just great. "The Winter Song" is a reflective tune, and a nice way to round out this EP.

If you play both "Laughing City" and this EP back to back, it sounds like a great (if somewhat short) album, frankly. The fact that these are really just teenager kids gives me great hope and expectations for their future output (they are working on their full-fledged debut album now). Meanwhile, we'll do with this. BUY IT!

Given the overwhelming prescence of mindless, cookie cutter pop, so-called 'AlternaPOP', it is truly, TRULY, refreshing to find a band that not only produces highly sensitive, serenely melodic, pop music, but, does so in such a way that pays telling homage to their musical influences, both past and present.

To say that Eisley are an anomaly would be an understatement. Who would have thought that a bunch of KIDS from Texas could fuse together the sublime harmonies of country and western with the more modern, and often more dramatic, chord structures of Radiohead? Certainly NOT this listener. Then, I went to see these youths perform as an opener to Coldplay.

They wear their musical heritage of country and gospel on their sleeves proudly and we are all the better for it. Not only are the girls all physically beautiful but, so are their voices! And their stage demeanor is both refreshing and wonderfully honest. They actually BLUSH when people applaud.

Screw the reviewer who likened them to Avril Lavigne! Not only do these kids write their own music, something that Avril could not do on her best day, BUT, they are humble in their presentation, something that Avril simply refuses to do.

So you decide which you would prefer.

The music of Eisley is simply enchanting. Their vocal and instumental harmony coupled with the haunting melodies of their songs seem take the listener on a journey through another world. Their lyrics, on the other hand, make no sence to me whatsoever (which is why this review got 4 stars instead of 5), but the pure beauty of their music more than makes up the difference. My only regret in purchasing this CD is that I didn't just go ahead and buy their new full length album. I can recomend Eisley without hesitation.

Darker, less "produced", and just better than Laughing City.
I can't see how even someone who hated it couldn't find something
good to say about it, too. The harmonies are amazing, making you
forget when something doesn't rhyme. Few bands can do that.

And I believe there was somebody earlier who said(with sarcasm)
that he liked how the producers got one of them to sing with
her nose on the microphone, etc., Courtney Love, bla bla blah.
I've been seeing Eisley live since last May, far before
Marvelous Things was even thought of, and that is how she normally sings.

Eisley is a band that takes familiar musical elements and combines them to create a sound that is uniquely their own. This is most evident on their second release, Marvelous Things EP. Two things make Eisley's music a delight to listen to. The first is the beautiful harmonizing efforts of the band's singers, Stacy and Sherri DuPree. The second is the effective mix of sometimes contrasting emotion in the lyrics and music of the band's songs.

Marvelous Things, perhaps one of Eisley's best, has two distinctly different feels that are seamlessly blended together. The song has very dark, surreal elements to it, both lyrically and musically. There is, however, sufficient room for wonder, warmth, and comfort, particularly in the singers' voices during the chorus. The instrumentation compliments the vocals perfectly, never over- or underwhelming them.

If any song can match the craft of Marvelous Things it is Memories, the second track on the EP. Again, Eisley manages to blend vastly different emotions into one piece. The song is movingly melancholy and lonely at times and very warm and optimistic at others. The highlight of the song is the vocal exchange between Stacy and Sherri as they portray a husband and wife who attempt to speak to each other although they are apart. The result is emotionally powerful dialogue unlike anything heard in modern, popular music. The exchange would be ineffective had only one person sung both roles.

Sea King and The Winter Song also display the same qualities as the first two songs, although to a lesser extent. They both fit the feel of the EP well and showcase the array of Eisley's talent. I look forward to their first full-length release.

I've been reading some of the other reviews of this cd and it reminds me a lot of another band that got criticism for not being as catchy or pulling 180s in music. I personally found this record to be overall better than Laughing City.

The vocals are just as harmonious as Laughing City but from hearing the vocals it seems like the girls are lamenting. There are no happy friendly vocals of say Tree Tops. It really makes the effort a lot darker. The lyrics are very unique and really almost paint a picture in your head as your listening to the cd.

Musically, the first thing I noticed was the guitars. There aren't as many chunky or alternative parts to the effort. Clean guitars dominate mostly with even hints of acoustic now and then. The keyboards done by Stacy remind me of the darker sounds of Bjork or the parts done on the previously mentioned Kid A from genius rock band Radiohead.

Overall, this is a very solid outing in the right direction. It shows that for their major label debut could go either way in terms of being an underground fav or a band that you won't be able to stand because the radio will overplay them. If Laughing City was Eisley's O.K. Computer this without a doubt is their Kid A.

well, finally i'm allowed to write a review for this cd. today marks the official non-online release of eisley's second release, 'Marvelous Things' (mind you that it has been available for quite sometime on iTunes [power of the internet, and Apple]). since their last release, 'Laughing City', these wonderful musicians (now two of which are no longer teenagers) have obviously grown in their musical capabilities and it clearly shows in this release. we start off with the song "Marvelous Things" (hey, last time we ended with the title track and this time it starts things off); i personally think that this is their best song in the bunch. the beginning keyboards have this wondrous echo feel to them which is what makes me fall in love with this love (damn, why is it that its always the tiny little things). in no time they jump from a daze like feeling straight to a more powerful rhythm (one of their most concrete beats) and then back. In this song we get more of the stream-of-consciousness lyrics of dreams and what not that we have come to enjoy from eisley. in this song they assure us once more that things are going to be alright and lift us to a natural high with their mystical lyrics. on the next track, "Memories," we are treated to some of stacy's more adept piano playing which just reaffirms the fact that these artist (don't want to say kids) at such a young age (no pre-fabrication found here). i was pretty sure that this song was earlier played under a different name, but that is a rather strange tangent. here we have another example of how eisley is definitely no where close to the rest of the pop scene populated by gummy, pointless, rehashed love song. no, eisley so easily writes about mortality and are able to tell us great stories with intricacies that are are so hard to find in the mtv music scene today (regardless of age). eisley shows how not everyone writing music is pointless and running around in circles. in "Memories" we are first introduced to a hard working man who has ultimately tired of his life. we know that he doesn't have much money since he must plant his own wheat and food by throwing the seeds to the ground by hand. he knows that his end is near and he is both sad and happy at the same time. in the next section we learn that he is sad since he will be leaving his wife, whom he loves much, behind. without ever explicitly showing his death we learn of it because his wife must now tend to the plants. everything around her has turned lifeless and the birds that normally would be full of life and vigor now also go on with their daily life soberly and solemnly. she works and lives but is not really there mentally. in her times of sorrow she still finds happiness in the memories that she has of them together, the good times and the bad, but it was still them. she then begins to dream and feels that she is once more talking with her husband asking him where he is but he, himself, is not sure were he is. through the imagery that eisley portrays one gets the idea that he might even be in hell ("firing, flaming, colors surround me," hinting at the idea that maybe he committed suicide) which is why he doesn't know where he is, he feels eternally lost and hopeless. the music itself equally portrays the dramatic and powerful message found in the lyrics, one gets the feeling of monotonous life and desperate cries for answers and the joy found in the images we will always have in our heads. after such a heavy song he are treated to a more upbeat song (though not without its message), "Sea King". musically it is a retrace of 'Laughing City's' "Tree Tops" but even at a simple glance at the lyrics we find that there is so much more here. this tale speaks of a simple story of a sea king who had all the material goods ("diamonds in his crown", "gold and glitter bubbling all around him", "pearls in his hands") he could possible ask for yet he has no love. the narrator can't have anymore of this and decides to leave hoping that one day he will know what he is really missing from his life but inherently knows he never will. we finally end this cd with the beautiful song "The Winter Song." it is a very calm and relaxing song about, well, winter. although a bit repetitive in the verses and the chorus (each verse is the same and ditto with the chorus). it is simply a simple little song about winter and the things it brings; musically a great song. well, this is a great cd and i totally recommend you buy this. it is not as good as 'Laughing City' but the difference is so small that it puts so many other bands out there to shame. again, eisley is evidence that not all is wrong with music today and they really give us hopes for the future of music. they are going to start recording their first full length cd in a little while but these four tracks (along with the five from laughing city and others found on their website from their first ep) are definitely worth the money you will pay. go ahead, indulge yourself.

The order of the tracks on this EP is really the order of the best songs to the not-so-good songs.

"Marvelous things" is a wonderful, I immediately fell in love when I first heard it. It is definetly the best song on this EP but when I listened to the next track, "Memories" it struck me as one of those not-so-good/not-up-to-the-par-of-Eisley songs. I admit it grew on me after a while, the lyrics are great (a little muddled at times though) and the vocals at the ending are superb, a song that really gets stuck in your head. "Sea King" is a song that isn't all that distinct and could easily be confused with the tune of "Memories." It is a nice dreamy song but not a great song. "The Winter Song" has yet to grow on me, it's nice to listen to as background music maybe to study or read but one I rarely hit the repeat button on.

It's a good EP to have for all the Eisley die-hard fans but ones that enjoy only their best songs I'd wait until their full CD comes out.

This cd is wonderful. From the opener and title track 'Marvelous Things', a wonderful fresh and whimsical piece of pop music, displaying to full effect the remarkable singing talent of sisters Stacy and Sherri Dupree (made even more remarkable when you consider the fact that the former was only 14 years old at the time of recording) to the simple but beautiful 'The Winter Song', the perfect song for a cold December evening, everything about this short and sweet four-track EP from talented Texan teenagers Eisley seems to predict a marvelous future for this original young band.