To be an independent artist is to face a daily struggle of not only acceptance, but of budget constraints and finding the time to fit in doing what you love. However, when you are saddled with chronic insomnia and a brain bursting with unabashed creative honesty, that second bit isn't as difficult to achieve. Such is the case of low fidelity indie artist Marc With a C, an analog powerhouse of raw emotion, tongue-in-cheek humor and pajama pants.
Marc With a C has graced this space several times, with his Monkees cover album and his last LP, Motherf–kers be Bulls–ttin. Frankly, I'm getting tired of reviewing Marc With a C. Not because his music isn't continuously fantastic and continues to improve with every self made album, but because I'm running out of things to say about him. Yet, I will continue to review his albums until he's writing soundtracks for Indie movies and Fox Sitcoms trying to be humorous and deep.
His latest LP is called Popular Music and oddly enough, it's probably the most accessible album to date. Once you get over yourself and accept the lo-fi sound of Marc With a C, you can't help but get into the spirit. The guy has this infectious foot-tapping spirit to his music, infused with pop culture references and real life troubadouring. Playing all the instruments himself, overlaying the tracks to create a full band sound. This is anthem music, no matter your personal troubles - something in this music applies to you.
After the intro track, the first three tracks run together, something I always enjoy in albums like this. Marc does well here to almost create a pop album sound, but without the over-produced nuttery of pop music. You can't help but smile as he takes his dig at the crowd surrounding popular music then slips into a track about the amount of snare in his headphones. If you really want an infectious track, it's "DJ Danny Treanor." Also, I totally caught the Garbage Pail Kids reference.
There is no single fitting genre for Marc With a C. Tracks like "Free Bird" drift into a visage of a group of clean cut boys on stage in the late 1950s, harmonizing with their four chords. Yet, it feels modern, not just because we know it's not 1950, but because Marc has this way with words. Everything feel fresh, like an analogy you've never heard before or a metaphor that in most contexts would be completely misused. Though, it should be noted that this album was crowdsourced in a sense. From Marc's Bandcamp page:
Coming in at just under 40 minutes, Popular Music is admittedly short. But I've paid much more for even shorter albums. I don't know how many punk rock singles I won on 45s that I paid at least ten bucks for. Though in this case, you would truly be supporting an independent artist, which should be reward enough. For me though, the track "Whack Jite" is that irreverent piece of music that is worth the price of admission. A song in the style of White Stripes, I can't tell, but I swear Marc is saying "calm your slappy ham." I'll need confirmation on that.
Then Marc steps up his game, writing a song that is close to my heart, having grown up with a group of guys that tend to show affection towards each other through physical violence. "Dickpuncher III: The Dickening" (might be a nod to a certain film about an immortal swordsman) is a song about getting punched in the junk. This leads into a dedication to Triforce Mike. "Triforce" Mike Pandel tragically died in a car accident last year. This heartfelt tribute to a solid member of the Orlando geek scene is a wonderful track, about touching balls a lot. Seriously. It's a brotherly sign of affection. Everyone in the scene, especially in Florida, misses Mike. Yet, even with his untimely passing, every dedication has been seeping with humor - which is what he would have wanted.
Even with the lo-fi sound, I can't help but wonder what Marc would sound like in hi-fidelity, but then I think that he'd lose a lot of charm. I would however be game for the orchestral Marc With a C, perhaps a greatest hits album backed by the Orlando Philharmonic or something. That being said, that's not the Marc With a C sound. The Marc With a C sound can be tied to places, to things and truth. I mean, truth that has been twisted by Marc's perception, but that's all reality is anyway - perception. Really, that's what Popular Music is. It's an album of perception, it's a feeling that you are looking at the world through Marc's eyes. You are getting a ticket into the brain of one of the most creative and unique artists that I have had the pleasure of crossing paths with on numerous occasions. Even queuing with him for a They Might be Giants show in Tampa. The guy creates feel good music, and while this might not be the "best album of all time" in the annals of music it should certainly be ranked.
You can get Popular Music over on Marc With a C's Bandcamp page. What are you waiting for? Order it on vinyl. You won't be disappointed.
