Progression Magazine, Issue 57, Spring / Summer 2009
MarsupiaL
Genus Thylacinus
2009 (CD, 43:46); Independent Release
Style: Alternative/Country/Pschadelic
Sound 3 | Composition 3 | Musicianship 3 | Performance 3
Total Rating 12
MarsupiaL blends vintage country psych with alt-country and 70’s Southern guitar rock in forging a sound difficult to classify. Odd combinations of influences with generous instrumental interludes make genus thylacinus simultaneously original and familiar.
“Lead On” opens with a Dire Straits feel giving way to an extended space guitar solo that slowly builds to maximum intensity. When the rifting gets too hard to handle, some Moby Grape harmonies take the batton and run awhile before returning for a few more measures of guitar histrionics. The nine-minute piece finally closes out with the aforementioned Dire Straits-inflected verse/chorus.
The second cut is Lynard Skynard personified, followed by the 10-minute “Naked In The Hall Of Seduction”, a mental stew of early Steve Miller, Moby Grape, and Pilgrimage-era Wishbone Ash.
The Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Family, The Great Speckled Bird and the Groundhogs all rear their rocking heads on this fourth release by the North Carolina Quartet. Grab a brew, sit back, and enjoy.
by Warren Baker
