Shapeshifter

Marcy Playground

Capitol Records, 1999

http://www.marcyplayground.net

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/24/1999

I don't like having my opinion changed. Okay, I admit I'm stubborn in this regard: once I make my mind up about something, I hate having to change it. Ask my wife.

Take, for example, my feelings toward the band Marcy Playground. My whole view of this band was shaped by the song "Sex And Candy." Simply put: I hate that fuckin' song. Needless to say, I never felt any immediate need to learn any more about this band.

Then, in the mail comes Shapeshifter, the latest release from John Wozniak and crew. Seeing that I wasn't too keen on listening to it, I left the disc sit in the "to be reviewed" pile for a couple of weeks. But my friends at Capitol can only be so patient with me, and I thought their patience was about to run out, so into the player the disc went.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

And you know something? I'm amazed at how good this disc is. From note one to the hidden track at the end, Marcy Playground make me want to forget that "Sex And Candy" ever existed -- and this disc might put to rest any fears of Marcy Playground falling prey to the "sophomore slump."

The band - guitarist/vocalist Wozniak, bassist Dylan Keefe and drummer Dan Rieser - almost try to start things off with a blank slate on Shapeshifter, not allowing their past to shape the outcome of ths album. And that new outlook on the music can be heard on tracks like "Bye Bye," "Never" and the charmingly quirky "Secret Squirrel". (I vaguely remember the cartoon character of this name - wasn't he on the same show as "The Great Grape Ape"?) This music isn't nearly as melancholy as I would have expected -- no, this is rather lively.

Wozniak does seem to sing with a monotone delivery at times, but on tracks like "Wave Motion Gun" and "Pigeon Farm," he breaks loose from that stereotype and allows his vocals to wander wherever they choose. (The latter song apparently isn't a new track; it's one the band has been playing live for some time now.)

The one key word that sums up Shapeshifter is this: fun. You can clearly hear on songs like "It's Saturday," "All The Lights Went Out" and "Never" that the band was having fun recording this album. In turn, that level of enjoyment is passed on to the listener; you might be surprised how hard it is to take this disc out of the changer - even down to the neo-psychedelic groove of "Our Generation."

Now, it's no secret I don't like the way that "hidden" tracks are buried in ten-plus minutes or fifty-some five-second long tracks of silence. But the 1890's take on "Pigeon Farm" -- which comes about three minutes after "Our Generation" fades out -- is kind of interesting, and I would have liked to have heard this one-minute experiment turned into a full track.

I said in the beginning of this review, I hate having my opinion changed. But with Shapeshifter, I'm not only forced to re-think my views about Marcy Playground, I'm forced to admit I absolutely love this album. I hate it when other people are right.

Rating: A

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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© 1999 Christopher Thelen and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Capitol Records, and is used for informational purposes only.