Marble Index - I Believe

It’s no coincidence that the Marble Index share their name with Nico’s album. The influence reflects heavily in everything I’ve ever heard by them. Their new EP, 'I Believe', though still in that happy company, seems to mark a bit of a progression. Almost addictive, this is fully adrenilated complete with pulsing pauses, jolting militaristic drum rolls and Brad Germain’s hauntingly shredded vocals; however it seems somewhat inconsistent, almost disjointed on the first listen. Perhaps though, this is precisely the point. Title track ‘I Believe’ opens the EP as a sleek pop number with a slight ska bounce that just makes you wish you were back in dance halls and believed ‘making eyes’ at someone was fucking. It’s a nigh-on joyous stab at every time you’ve tried to work someone out and failed, exposing all the lies your friends told you about scoring in the locker room. Scoffing, yet tinged with hope. On the other hand, third in line ‘Days Seems Longer’ runs parallel with fellow Canadians the Dears: carefully layered and precisely arranged. Layers so intricate they’re barely visible, exacting to the point of abandonment, the collision of vaguely echo-y vocals and softly distorted guitar with a perfect crescendo of cymbally drums is pushed ever onwards by a wrapping bass line. Similarly, finishing track ‘A Lot of These Things’ with its distanced vocals, riveting, punchy guitar and heady swirls of distortion holds hypnotically your senses. Things, however, swing abruptly in a full 180o when the almost shifty, embarrassed lyrics and the obsessively combative drums in ‘That Day,’ an achingly bitter love song so closely harnessed until the bridge when suddenly emotion rips past and the whole song becomes fuelled by smashing, cleaving, flung-against-the-wall fury. ‘That Day’ is so reminiscent of early 90's grunge that it could easily have been written then and be just as powerful. Over all, this EP is actually what I would normally go for, but somehow they make it work with aplomb.