Marnie Stern

HANK ALTOGETHER:

All deference to Zach, but I'm going to keep my allegiances on this side of the pond when it comes to head splitting fuel injected indie rock. Specifically with Marnie Stern's release This is It & I am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That (TIIAIAIAYAIASITAHIIASIIAIIIATIT for short). Stern has garnered praise for her prolific guitar technique. She manages to take that finger-tapping sound from all those metal albums you listened to with your high school friends and turn it into incredible tunes without sounding supercilious or pretentious. For anyone who has ever had a doubt about women playing guitar, Marnie Stern is a swaggering rebuttal. And for those of you who have to work on a Sunday, as I do, this'll wake your ass up.