Marcy Playground LEAVING WONDERLAND… IN A FIT OF RAGE review
Posted by RNS Robot on December 1st, 2009
Marcy Playground
Leaving Wonderland… in a fit of rage
Deep South
13 tracks / 40:25
www.marcyplayground.com
Technically, Marcy Playground fits the definition of “one-hit wonder.” Like fellow mid-to-late-nineties groups Sponge, Harvey Danger, Semisonic, and Dishwalla, they came out of nowhere with a monster hit (you will remember the chill, disco lemonade infused “Sex & Candy”), only to vanish from the commercial radar after their fifteen minutes. Trouble is, not only was the rest of their self-titled album good (“Sherry Fraser,” “Poppies”), their follow-up Shapeshifter was even better, with killer tracks like “Bye Bye,” “Secret Squirrel” and “Wave Motion Gun.” Nonetheless, Jon Wozniak’s band largely disappeared following the lack of ‘success’ Shapeshifter received. 2004′s MP3 came and went with zero fanfare, even from the band, who declined to tour in support for various reasons. For all intents and purposes, Marcy Playground was over — finished.
Which is why I was stunned to see on the shelf at Wal-Mart (of all places) a brand-new Marcy Playground album.
Leaving Wonderland… in a fit of rage doesn’t feel five years removed from MP3, much less ten from Shapeshifter. This is a testament to the timeless quality of the group; Marcy never really fit into the 90′s “alternative rock” genre – they were never ‘grunge,’ much less a grunge imitator. Leaving Wonderland has much more in common with gentle tracks “Sherry Fraser” and “America” than it does “Sex & Candy.” The lilting “Irene” and old country finger-picking of “Memphis,” in particular, tow close to a classic sort of Tennessee country/folk sound, including surprisingly religious-themed lyrics appropriate to the style. “Gin & Money” features Canadian artist Daniel Powter on piano, adding to the smokey bar atmosphere of by far the darkest track on the album; it is followed by the quirky acoustic rocker “Star Baby,” where Woz muses on the girls of his past and which ones he misses (most of them, but not that girl). On the laid-back, tender “Blackbird,” Woz sings to his wife “Thank you, Raine / for clearing my eyes.” The MP-signature crunchy riffing of “Poppies” or “It’s Saturday” is not entirely absent on the new disc, however; Woz rocks out on “I Burned The Bed” and the whimsical “Emperor.” “I Must Have Been Dreaming” is both self-depreceating and one of the most upbeat Marcy songs to date.
Laid back. Quirky. Whimsical. At turns dark and beautiful. Unexpectedly meaningful. Marcy Playground may be a “one-hit wonder,” but these qualities that Woz and his bandmates Dylan Keefe and Shlomi Lavie infuse into the band’s songs give Marcy its magic. For those with ears to hear, Leaving Wonderland… in a fit of rage is a a mature, off-beat album worthy of discovery.
Additional note: my copy of Leaving Wonderland… in a fit of rage also came with a free download card for the entire MP3 album. I haven’t been able to determine if this is standard to all copies of the physical album, limited to Canada, or limited to the initial run. A sticker on the shrink-wrap clearly labelled the album as having the download card, so keep your eyes open – two great albums for the price of one!
Tags: 2009 Releases, Jon Wozniak, Marcy Playground
I, like everyone else, came to the band via “Sex & Candy” but what I found on MP’s eponymous release was less than 40 minutes of pure bliss. It’s a shame they didn’t get more love than they did.
Sadly, I never picked up their later stuff, so I’m not familiar with it beyond “It’s Saturday”, but Woz is definitely one of those unsung heroes of the catchy, quirky, sometimes crunchy.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for this. Maybe it’s time I finally dug into their catalog…