by
Marnie Stern
- Record Label: Kill Rock Stars
- Release Date: Oct 7, 2008
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Admittedly, This Is It... takes a bit of work to get through the first time, but it gets easier, resulting in a compulsive, even obsessive desire to it play again and again, ultimately leading to the assertion that "there is nothing else on the planet remotely like this!"
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There is nothing but the interlocking parts that together combine to become something new, something wholly different than merely the additive sum of their individual atoms: the “It.”
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It's obsessive and choppy. It's playful. It's gleefully oblivious of when to shut up.
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It's taut, aggressive, accomplished and is "it" in every way the title suggests. And that is that.
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The vocals can still dilate your pupils, but her melodies (on "Ruler," "The Package Is Wrapped") deserve equal attention, as Stern bids to become one of the few finger-tappers who's also a songwriter.
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That she is able to incorporate these technical talents into solid songwriting is what makes This Is It the success that it is.
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Her songs always at least suggest pop, and the sense of tune at their core adds an inviting thrill to Stern's fitful guitar and Zach Hill's ridiculously, miraculously agitated drums.
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Her music is exhilarating, enigma-packed and, despite the unceasing noise barrage, winningly sweet.
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This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That, down to its mouthful of a title, is a fearless album, brought to fruition by a desire to push boundaries and explore sound.
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Mathy, but hyper melodic, it packs more ideas into forty minutes than most releases that are much longer. Stern has clearly side-stepped the sophomore slump.
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The conviction in Stern's direct, bare voice is what turns the album into the kicking, clawing, emotional frenzy that we get.
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UncutPleasingly, the most difficult thing about the album is its name. [Dec 2008, p.116]
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As This Is It etc. is only just over 40 minutes, that’s a bit odd, but if anything it speaks to the potency of Stern’s music.
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Under The RadarWith her Kill Rock Stars backing, this would-be guilty pleasure gets indie cred, and she deserves kudos for having the chops to come off as a one-woman Yeah Yeah Yeahs if Eddie Van Halen were manning the frets. [Winter 2008]
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This Is It... is an incredible leap forward as a result. She was already good. Now she's awesome.
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MojoIt boasts stronger songs than Stern's 2007 debut "In Advance Of The Broken Arm," without losing the fretboard fireworks that made its predecessor an underground smash. [Feb 2009, p.106]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 14
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Mixed: 0 out of 14
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Negative: 4 out of 14
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Apr 26, 2023