And now for something completely different. Daimon and Jennifer Santa Maria have made a life together and have continued making music together following the demise of their previous band, Elevator Art. With a sound that combines rock, folk, prog, electronica, and psychedelia and a live show that involves the liberal use of props and -- of course -- hats, the duo have cultivated their own following as Bone & Marrow.
Bone & Marrow will release Introspectator on August 26th at House of Independents; but, as part of my call for seven-days' worth of submissions, they gave me a chance to listen to the album on the day it was finalized. It's as eclectic and eccentric as you might expect if you've ever seen a Bone & Marrow performance, and it bends and blends genres into something that is never boring.
The album opens with a few seconds of what sounds like a field recording before the guitar kicks in on "Defense Mechanism." That guitar starts out sounding distant and dreamy before switching to something a little more jagged. The song is full of fits and starts as Daimon repeatedly sings, "Put down the gun!" The final instrumental section layers flute and rolling rhythms over shoegazy guitar.
Electronic loops blend with hints of hard rock on "Tiny Mirrors." The flute is back for the outro; and, I'm going to admit that when I hear a flute, my mind immediately goes to "prog rock." But there's a mixing of old and new sounds here that makes things less easy to classify. The contrast works.
"Building the Nerve" is a standout track for me. As the title suggests, it's about building up the nerve to fend and fight for yourself. The track reminds me of early Wolf Parade. The guitar solo, the acoustic outro, and Jennifer Santa Maria's backing vocals give everything a sense of space.
"Magic Numbers" -- another standout -- opens sounding like electronic indie dream pop and quickly transitions to harder rock. And that seems to be the theme here. Even within a single song, Bone & Marrow can't be pigeonholed into a single genre. "Foot Prince and the Royal Wonder" opens with noise, brings in kind of a swampy riff, layers on spoken word recording and flute. Epic, 11-minute closer "Motherland" starts acoustic, becomes a cacophony of noise, settles down and ramps up again.
It's hard to compare Bone & Marrow to another act, but I did keep thinking about the ways in which a band like Wolf Parade blend the electro-proggy inclinations of Spencer Krug with the more straight-ahead rock and roll of Dan Boeckner. And there are the obvious callbacks to bands I spent a lot of time listening to as a kid like Yes and Jethro Tull.
The band worked with Tony Appleseed at AntFARM Studios on the recording, and the album sounds exceptional. Throughout, my ears perked up at the shoegaze-like walls of guitar noise that underpin several of the songs. That, and the intertwining of Daimon and Jennifer's vocals are what drew me in; but there is plenty here to grab your attention even if you're into something totally different than I am.
Bone & Marrow release Introspectator August 26th at Asbury Park's House of Independents. Also on that bill are Homeless Apians, The Porchistas, Tony Appleseed, is., and more.
