Diving the Wreck

Involve

ormed in 1999, MarineVille have spent the last five years honing their craft. Their 2001 album Ready for the Dance was a nice mix of quiet ‘n’ loud guitars; clearly referencing 70’s rock – with a love for modern lo-fi rockers that sound retro (Pavement) – and the melodic aggression of classic post-punkers like Husker Du, The Minutemen and The Replacements. But this is no exercise in alternative-pop, MarineVille are definitely rockers … and new album Diving the Wreck follows on from Ready for the Dance. It has songs that sound like the rougher, tougher moments The Cure are capable of (Children of the UFO) and plenty of Bailterspace-esque sonic wandering (Southern Spire, The Fire, Let’s Build a House). Pulsing, lively rhythms frame squeals of angular guitar before giving way to slowly building intense moods with plodding tom-toms and shimmering delay – sometimes within the same tune! The arrangements and lo-fi aesthetic haven’t changed much and that’s a good thing. There are brushes and banjos on Adventure; but mostly it’s about guitars, bass and drums. And plenty of good Kiwi emo wailing. In fact, imagine Jakob and add clearly audible vocals.

The closing titular track begins with creeping scrapes of guitar strings and cymbal swishes. It is slow and epic. There is a melody introduced but it’s more about tone; slow and bewildering – kooky almost. Easily on a par with Ready for the Dance, and one or two songs (Kind to me, Paranoid Line of the Figure 8) are borderline genius in their simplicity. A fine local release.

The Package

POSTED BY Mark ON 23 November 2004