Magik Markers// Lost Dog Lounge // Ithaca, NY
6.26.09
Around midnight Elisa Ambrogio and Pete Nolan (with an honorary bass player who we shall call..Jim) of the Magik Markers took to the stage at Lost Dog Lounge in Ithaca, NY, for an intimate little gig sponsored by Popcorn Youth. I’ll start by saying, the genre of “noise” or “experimental” is truly something I can do without- thus I found opening band Mouthus painful to sit through. Respectable, yes- however, I hold most musicians up to a standard, with the lowest bar being “unimpressed” if it’s something I believe I could do. And trust me, I could do the 30 minutes of electric drum pad beating and mediocre electric guitar strumming. So keeping that in mind- I was uncertain where the night was going to go from there.
However, the Magik Marker’s was a pleasant surprise playing tunes off of their 2007 release Boss as well as their latest effort, Balf Quarry, mixing punk aesthetic with moody bluesey riffs. The percussive beats and melodies were foot-tappingly good, as was Elisa’s cooing and throat cutting guitar shredding. Some may argue, the best part of a Magik Markers show is Elisa’s Miranda July-esque between song banter and song introductions, along with her off the wall energy. With those individuals, I would have to whole heartedly agree. Highlights included “7/23″ which was introduced as ‘the ballad” as well as the schizophrenic lo-fi treat “Psychosomatic.”
