Marnie Stern’s bag of tricks is not a secret. By now, in her musical adventure, we know what weapons she brings to the fight. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that Marnie destroys a guitar, tapping her way through labyrinthian passes across the fretboard. You also know to expect those guitar lines to weave around hyperactive, impressive drumming. What is a mystery is how Marnie continues to just do what she does and somehow keep it totally fresh. In the world of vituoso guitarists, what you usually get is long, meandering jerk-off albums. Instead of putting us to sleep with her unbelievable talent, Marnie once again employs it to fashion an album where her incontestable chops, soaring hooks, deceptive time signatures, and wild energy all play into a master plan, the result of which is another truly fun, emotionally charged album.

From the album’s opening track, the soaring and shifting ‘For Ash,’ the album never looks back. It’s full steam ahead through peaks and valleys, often jumping between an M.I.A.-reminiscent energy (and vocal lines) and traces of Daydream-era Sonic Youth, all seasoned with bursts of Marnie’s signature tap-style guitar runs and sunny, blistering forward momentum. Some tracks are a little vocally-blurry, but the delivery takes up the slack. This album also has a slightly cleaner production value than previous releases, but not to the point of losing one of the best factors: a raw, believable sound that challenges the recorded work of other musicians who receive acclaim for their technical abilities, which tend to come out overly-clean and sterile.

Quite simply, the fact that MS is such a gifted guitarist seems almost secondary. This album, at it’s best and at most points, showcases much more than a brilliant musician. It is the latest in a streak of fiery, compelling rock and roll albums that change very little from record to record and yet constantly improve.

MP3: Marnie Stern – ‘Transparency is the new mystery’