| Sounds Like | THE MARIETTAS - 12
Now this is more like it ! While I wasn’t into Sean O’Brien’s recent solo record I really did like this, his old band from 1999 ( w/ Manfred Hofer from the early Leaving Trains). Plump power-pop tunes with big hooks (and an occasional foray into western music). Wonder if these guys are still around ? ( www.themariettas.com )- Dagger online magazine March 2007
Hardly new, having been released back in 1999, The Mariettas’ 12 is at best a tuneful, fuzzed-out LA punk rock album that may have you thinking of X or Glen Danzig. At its worst, it’s merely a foot-tapper. There’s the occasional sex talk, but it’s all in good fun. Besides, these guys seem too nice. But whatever, they’ve got a great song in “Tide of Chaos,” which just about validates the entire record with five and a half minutes of Manfred Hofer guitar bliss – with all his screeching and wailing he practically makes it sing. Sean O’Brien sounds good here, too. Too often he sounds like Mike Patton playing it straight (and flat). On “Crash,” by and far his best vocal performance, he channels Jello Biafra to great effect, and you wish he did it more often. “Sexcon” seems like the album’s overt pop song, but it’s not as good as “Pure Substance,” which rips, to be sure. “The Wheel” is the album’s lone curve-ball, with drummer, Doyle Dean adding some wonderfully goofy high-pitched vocals to a passionate ‘70s rock send-up. Are these guys still around? - Gary Knight - Left of the Dial -7/11/05
L.A. based, The Mariettas have rejected California sunshine pop for something considerably edgier on 12, the band’s 15 track debut. Not that they’ve sacrificed hooks and choruses for the extra bite, indeed 12 is as catchy as anything else you’ll hear all year, but you have to get past some sharp guitars and Sean O’Brien’s asymmetric vocal, which is pitched somewhere between that pompous bastard from Spandau Ballet and Iggy Pop, no less. Quite a combination, and I won't lie to you, one that takes some getting used to, but once you’ve been won over, you’ll discover that 12 is home to some real treats. Lyrically, a strain of dark humour runs throughout songs like Pull An Elvis, Sexcon and Crime Spree (check out the video if you can - a four minute definition of black humour, with extra violence on the side!), so expect the occasional guilty smile to play across your lips. Actually, it’s no surprise that The Mariettas deliver, the quartet of Sean O’Brien, Henry Liu, Manfred Hofer and Doyle Dean, between them, have played in some first rate bands like Baby Lemonade, Nymphs, Leaving Trains, True West, Denim TV and even Arthur Lee’s Love. Impressed? I was! (7)- Rob Forbes - LUKE Magazine - February 2001 -(UK).
Listen closely to the debut album from the Mariettas, and not only will you hear this L.A.-based band's music, but you'll also pick up the unmistakable strains of the band member's previous outfits, which is saying something. Among them, local boys Manfred Hofer and Henry Liu and out-of-town transplants Sean O'Brien and Doyle Dean have played for the likes of the Leaving Trains, the Nymphs, Dead Fairy, Baby Lemonade, Arthur Lee, Love, True West, Denim TV, Cinecyde, and Hippodrome. So on Twelve, joyful melodies balance sometimes distorted guitars; alternately up-tempo and plodding beats confront hot-rod and surf-guitar rumble; punk rock fury dissolves into haunting rhythms; psychedelia dips into lonely troubadour twang; and over it all, O'Brien's jagged, whiskey- and Quaalude-drenched vocals weave a disconcerting spell. It's the aural equivalent of a Spaghetti Western as seen through a peyote haze -- full of bravado and swagger, yet still ambivalent and decidedly bent. Often, there's an easy, rambling quality to it that's deceptive. Low-key rolling rhythms run into strains of blissed-out and jangly pop verging on hysterical frenzy, both of which only slightly veil the album's seedy noir-ish attitude, its ever-present potential for violence. Producer Eric Westfall (Chris Cacavas, Chuck Prophet, Gin Blossoms, Leaving Trains) has helped navigate similar terrain many times before, but never has the landscape been infused with such gleeful nihilism. These songs aren't just comfortable in their despair, they celebrate it. It's not whiny, angst-ridden, or even angry, for that matter. O'Brien's lyrics show a man who accepts chaos and who's willing to reveal -- though unwilling to indulge -- his own dark side. On "Crime Spree," O'Brien sweetly (and repeatedly) orders the listener to "pick up the gun" before finishing his statement with "we will have a lot of fun." The song's obvious sarcasm cushions the truth of the refrain but doesn't obliterate it. "Weaving Down the Street," with its cheerful chorus of "I know where the world will end/I even know the date/I know you're disappointed with my lack of amazing feats/But I won't be complete until I'm found weaving down the street" is odd but not nonsensical; it's free-associating in self-aware melancholia. "Sexcon" pokes fun of those how-to-pick-up-chicks seminars ("I'll give you a hand with your sexual confidence, man/You look like you could use a hand/Repeat after me/I adore thee/Now take off your clothes/Like you planned to") while also making fun of the singer's own lack of desire (repeatedly announcing "I just don't want anything"). It's all quite devastating stuff, made persuasive because it spares no one, not even itself -- and yet the humor that runs throughout keeps the disc enjoyable - Sabrina Kaleta - NEW TIMES - Los Angeles, CA - 2/10/00.
Jet propelled rockers with wailing guitar rub shoulders with thoughtful, brooding slower numbers on 12 by The Mariettas. The one consistent element, the uptight clever lyrics, is the least enjoyable part of an album that in songs like "Tide Of Chaos" and "The Darkest Girl" shows just how good it could all be if they'd just let themselves go a bit. An original and interesting album that's worth hearing. - Clint Thigh - Bucketful of Brains 55 - (UK).
This Los Angeles based band has shared the bill with the likes of Eve 6 and Din Pedals. Their/pop/rock style has sort of a T-Hip flavor to it, incorporating amusing lyrics. Track 11 (Katie Wore the Patches Low) has a catchy melody that will stick in your head. Each of The Mariettas has an extensive musical background and it's reflected in their work. - Carol Tamburo - Big Heavy World.
Cred report: B+. The Mariettas feature members of the Nymphs, True West, Baby Lemonade, and the Leaving Trains. Singer Doyle Dean's intentionally strained, high-pitched vocal style stands out above rollicking three-chord progressions and distinctly '80s Jangle Pop-influenced songs. Oh nostalgia.... - Kelly Bauman - Listen.com.
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