By Kyle Francis
You really have to hand it to the federal government for taking such good care of our Canadian artists, particularly our recording artists. Without the support and incentive offered for being artistic in Canada , all our rocking favorites like Nickelback and Sum 41 probably would never have left the garage. Unfortunately, a sucky band slips into the mainstream every now and then, and that’s what the Ontario band The Marble Index and their self-titled CD does–Suck.
Any joy gleaned from this album would have come from the foot-tapping guitar riff in the single “I Believe” or the almost-catchy fourth track, “That day”. However both of these come up too-little, too-late. Some small saving graces, like those aforementioned tracks, push the album up away from the sucky, it’s certainly not enough to bring it out of the realm of aural debauchery. Any coolness this album possesses is completely sapped by songs that are for the most part screechy and drawn out, and the lead singer sounding like Jack White on valium with an entire sack of marbles in his mouth doesn’t help.
This is an album for those who get their rocks off on indecipherable vocals and annoying guitar. For the rest of us The Marble Index is just an expensive coaster of suck.