MARIANNA WITH HER NEW MODERN CRIMINALS CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN

Marianna with her New Modern Criminals

songwriting + great vocals x <musicianship> = something special
 

by James deLorimier -  newmusicity reviewer

The new album - Marianna With Her New Modern Criminals 39:39

It isn't often I become enchanted by a musical entity.  I can have a fling with a group, perhaps an infatuation with a singer, but starting a long term love affair with a band?  Always a difficult proposition.  I have, however, fallen in love with Marianna with her New Modern Criminals.

I confess as of late I may have begun to forget about song.  Switching on the radio, it's obvious the world's airwaves have enveloped songs in a plastic film, presenting faceless entities that regurgitate crappy rhymes over flashy beats. I constantly find myself flipping the dial, only to flip it again, then finally to just flip it off.  Literally.  Hence, when a record arrives that harks back to the day when all the songs on an album were good, it makes me stand up and take notice.

Marianna With Her New Modern Criminals

And what an album the New Modern Criminals is.  Showcasing the vocal talents of Marianna Fox, this record is a musical gift to those who long for premier songwriting and talented musicianship.   Consisting of songs penned by guitarist Carter Tutwiler and joined by drummer John Hammond, bassist Minnie McCartney and pianist Edie O'Rourke, the New Modern Criminals present themselves as either new old time musicians or old new time musicians.  The songs all contain a familiar ring, but from a Saturn far, far away.  Sickeningly Sentimental, the opener, pines for a smoky 1940's nostalgia of men in fedoras and ladies with seamed nylons, but without the over studied intent that a copyist would employ. Instead, the song sounds like...well, a damn good song.  Sultry and mesmerizing with a snail speed tempo, the band handily creates an atmosphere which Marianna slips into like a satin negligee.  Economic in length and rich in sensuality,  Sickeningly Sentimental proves a provocative beginning before the landscape changes into the modern pop sound of I'll Be Around, the first obvious contemporary song of the record.

Marianna Fox

I'll Be Around, delivered as a deceptively sparse arrangement, is one of a multiple of cohesive styles that weave through the tracks.  Backed primarily by bass, drums and piano, Marianna presents a teasing story of desired love sought from a distance:  "So we're off to the races, your hand pressed into mine.  I don't know if you think the jokes on me.  If you do, let's hope you're not wrong" further demonstrates the personal word play Marianna evokes through the entire album. Like the ending of What Did You See in Him? where Marianna sings with a knowing wink "The damage is done and it will not mend.  It was over, before the end"  the lyrical content  and their delivery create moods that enhance each song within the cycle and remain fresh after every listen.

Mystery of Love dispels any thought that the band is committed to tempos of 80 BPM or less.  Reminiscent of a detective novel, Mystery of Love is a chorus-less tale of film noir set to music.  As Marianna imparts "Behind the lectern at the school of broken hearts, I pick up all the pieces but can't find all the parts, to a dream I once knew.  I'd like to solve the Mystery of Love but I haven't got a clue"  the listener is confounded by the poetry, for instead of betraying Marianna as a victim, she herself becomes the detective, the seeker within the story.  This is oft the case with each of these songs, where a suspicious story is revealed, yet the listener can either believe it's about the singer or it's about themselves.  Either way,  it's this intimacy that makes Marianna with her New Modern Criminals such a provocative catch for music lovers.  The fact that Marianna has added an entirely new chapter to Gloomy Sunday's long musical history informs that this band is as distinctive as they are talented, respecting the covenants of great music making while forging on in their own style.

Carter Tutwiler and Marianna Fox

The song I'm Calling It A Crime seemingly switches gears without changing speed.  With just a whisper of country folk, Marianna sings in the style of a cowgirl Joan Baez sans the trill.  Distinctly American in tone and proud of it, the band handles with authenticity the nuances of great country folk music without betraying their own musical aspirations. "The legal play and the courtroom drama never end.."  is yet another brilliant toss off and it's this lyrical content combined with great song and vocal arrangements that proves indigenous to this entire record.  One only has to hear the closing heartfelt numbers As Trite As You Are and The Last to Know to understand the method and care that was put into making this album.

The time has come for music to regain it's proper attire and get dressed up again.  Great songwriting and presentation are due for a comeback and Marianna with her New Modern Criminals deserve to be heard (and seen) as the new standard bearers.   It's been quite a long time coming.