Marbin - Aggressive Hippies

If there was someone to describe to me about Marbin’s music. It would be this: Mind-boggling, driven, powerful, and in your face Jazz Rock at their finest. I’ve been a champion of Marbin’s music since 2013 and they have never done me wrong with their music that the label MoonJune Records have unleashed. They have released this year, their fifth album entitled, Aggressive Hippies. Let me just say, they scored another touchdown in their history as if the hot chili ice cream flavors, just got even more spicier with a dosage of jalapeno’s.

The quartet brings the action to a standstill and since the recording was done in four days this year in April at the Stone Soup Studio, you could imagine yourself being at the sessions and being completely jaw-dropped the moment they start playing. Just Music is where it kicks off. Here, Dani himself goes into a style in the midsection on his guitar making it sound like a VOX organ in the styles of the late, great Graham Bond and the sound of Pink Floyd’s Biding my Time with a late ‘60s attitude by using a delay effect with the reverb sounds with a bluesy groove.

Dani and Danny bring the guitar and sax funk with a prestissimo groove and smooth sound between the two of them on Y’all are Good. Danny shines majestically through his sax in the styles of Dexter Gordon and John Coltrane as one as Greg’s drums and John’s bass help them out through their rhythmic solos to get into an incredible improvisation.

Intro delves into the structures of the Gilmour-sque and Steve Howe structured beauty with an atmospheric ocean soaring through the waves while African Shabtay gets into a roller-coaster adventure of your lifetime. Unexpected time signatures, intense beat and fast tempos, this is where Marbin are having a blast as the melodies really go up into a maximum level and Danny is shining brightly.

Then it is time to hit the dance floor as you can imagine yourself in the streets of Paris and feeling the vibrations and the sounds at the Juke Joint and O’l Neckin’. Both of these tracks are in the essence of the ‘70s Zappa-sque styles of the Over-nite Sensation sound. And dare I say Mastodon thrown in? It is almost as if they went back in time at the roaring ‘20s and ‘30s with Swinging Jazz-Hard Rock at their best and imaging Cab Calloway being in awe of them.

John W. Lauler comes into the front on his Bass as he lays down some mellowing bass grooves for a smooth and relaxing ballad and Dani helps him out of a swirling adventure for the dawn to happen for a Morning Star. It’s such a beautiful track that it gives Marbin a chance to relax from their intense compositions and waiting for the sun to rise at the exact moment.

The title track is a driving composition with the bluesy twist following inside the engines to build the muscles up for a ride into the countryside. Dani is doing his Stevie Ray Vaughan touches on the soul-like sounds on the guitar to bring almost a Texas Blues Rock sound that gives it a big crunching punch. The closer, Jambo, is where Marbin release their glory of glories.

Dani knows his chops very well into his guitar into the blues with Fripp, Zappa, and Gilmour into a giant blender and it’s a perfect smoothie to go with this! He is just nailing it down to close it off with a big bang. And the band themselves are having a blast and almost as if he is a conductor and letting them know when the 12-bar structure will reach an end.

MoonJune Records for me, have never disappointed me. And Marbin’s Aggressive Hippies is the album worth having a nice Jalapeno Burger to go with this for a spicy adventure into unbelievable results! I’m very pleased of what I’ve listened to from start to finish. And Marbin have continued to sprinkle fairy dust over my headphones to see what adventures they will go into next for the years and years to come.