3 out of 5

Label: Africantape

Produced by: Lionel Darenne (recorded by)

Gutsy, tried-and-true instrumental post-rock that serves as a mission statement for the weirdos at Africantape.

Marvin are a fairly “standard” guitar / bass / drums trio, though I’m not sure who I can point to to define that standard, which is rather the band’s strength. Riffs hit exactly when they should; noise is stripped down to a rootsy bass or guitar line exactly when needed; and things explode right on time. In that sense, these are almost pop songs – just played for the headbanging crowd, and not meant derogitorialy in the slightest, as having the know-how to keep things pared down and moving forward is a tough skill to learn, maybe especially when your are unable to have a singalong to cover a tune’s lesser moments.

Marvin do have some of their own special sauce of course, with a slight kraut / electro edge that informs Turing Machine like stretches of pummeling, and letting occasional heavily vocodered vocals mantra-ize over alongside the rocking out. This is an aspect Marvin would lean into more as they became more defined; on their debut (which AT rereleased) it’s moreso flavoring.

‘Marvin’ works, all the way through. It works hard. That the band’s output ducks, dodges and weaves on cue may lessen the durability of the album over time, it doesn’t lessen how satisfying of a display / listen that is while its spinning.