Alright alright! Rum Bar Records release #200 is the fifth (or sixth, if you count Subterranean Jungle) album by Mr. Brad Marino. The label's debut release was Seven Nights To Rock by The Connection, which came out 13 years ago. So Brad Marino has been there with Malibu Lou from the start, and the two have decided to celebrate in style. On The Brink is an odds and sods compilation of some standout singles that have never appeared on a Brad Marino LP along with some unreleased tracks and alternate versions of old favorites. What I like about this release is that since it was designed to be a vinyl LP, they couldn't just throw every single non-album Marino track on there. Editorial decisions had to be made. Marino hand-picked all these tracks, which together give us an ass-kicker of a new album to enjoy while we await new material from one of the greatest artists of the present-day rock 'n' roll universe.
Some of these tracks rate among Marino's very best — like 2022's digital-only Kinks homage "Girl, I Want You," "On the Brink" and "Should've Known" from 2018's Four Track Attack 7", and "Over My Head" from Marino's collaboration single with Natalie Sweet. These are essential songs in Marino's catalog, and it's great that they now appear on a proper LP (most of them remixed for this release). I'm also a huge fan of some of the cover tunes. Marino's versions of "What's My Scene?" (Hoodoo Gurus) and "Peggy Sue Got Married" (Buddy Holly) are absolutely killer. "Dame Darcy," Marino's take on a song by his old band Rydells, was originally released as a virtual B-side for the digital version of Marino's classic "Ramones and Stones" single. Fans will welcome its inclusion here, as it's one of the finest Ramonescore tracks of recent memory. The Michael Chaney–penned "True Love" was previously only available as a bonus track on the digital release of Marino's album Looking For Trouble. It has been given a proper polishing for this release, and it's one of my favorite cuts on the album.
Unlike some compilation albums that have to resort to heavy filler, On The Brink can stand toe-to-toe with any of Marino's studio albums. This is a dandy selection of songs, and delivers a nice mix of Marino's '60s pop & garage side and his Ramones-loving side. It highlights a guy who's a triple threat: a really good singer, a superb songwriter, and a red-hot guitar player. He's certainly one of my favorite artists, and I've spent several hours enjoying this release in the car. Another reason why this album matters is that vinyl still matters. Even in this age of streaming and downloading, there's still something special about taking an LP out of its jacket and putting it on the turntable. I mean technically you can collect MP3s, but can you truly collect them? For those of you whose tangible format of choice is the compact disc, the CD version tosses in the Ramones and Stones 7" in its entirety. Any way you slice it, this is a super-cool release and an absolute treat for fans. Let's drink to another 200 releases from Rum Bar Records (at least)!
https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-brink
https://bradmarino.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-brink-rarities-remixes-unreleased
https://open.spotify.com/album/4xx8MCnsksjgy3SczyyfJT
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" they couldn't just throw every single non-album Marino track on there"
ReplyDeleteI honestly would've prefered that, or at least doing that with the CD version, there's space for all the non-LP tracks in a CD.