Photo by Nick Johnson

“I can’t keep moving backwards” is a bold statement for an artist like Marnie Stern to make upon returning, considering the NYC guitar supernova never made a sound that ever felt like the rest of the music world was remotely close to catching up to her. “Plain Speak”, the lead single from Stern’s first album in 10 years, The Comeback Kid, is a joyfully complicated reminder why that still remains true. Compared to today’s indie rock milquetoast which the album release bio roasts as “corporate clones making banal playlist rock lacking in the whimsy, creativity, and virtuosity,” Stern’s hyperactive fret-tapping, signature-swerving extra long division of math rock laps circles around all of the whispery indie and “vibe”-driven listens more concerned with blending into modern fashion safely that risking standing out on their own merits. Nothing about this one translates to an easy read on art, and that’s the way it should be.

Marnie Stern’s The Comeback Kid will be released November 3rd on Joyful Noise Recordings.