Under the Radar : Marah / Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight (1998)
9.4
Across my record collection, there are maybe 40-50 records that I believe deserve a nod alongside the likes of Born To Run, Highway 61 Revisited and Exile on Main Street, yet never really made it beyond a core group of followers. Over the next year or so, I'm going to shed a little light on some of those records. These aren't good records; these are classics, somehow lost, having never found their commercial stride.
If I span my entire collection, there isn't a record more deserving of a spot on this list more than the Philadelphia-foursome Marah's debut. I heard this record not long after its release and it immediately lurched my life in a million different directions. This was Mick and Keith but in the 90s. Before I could even catch my breath, I was driving from NYC to Philly nearly every weekend to see the Brothers Bielanko, Ronnie and Danny. Thrust into the center of the already brimming alt.country scene, Marah stretched across the Americana plain and became the best damn band, anywhere. Their shows, almost always in Philly, were some of the greatest pure rock n' roll experiences I've ever witnessed. And Let's Cut the Crap became the soundtrack to my life, or at least I wanted it to be. And beyond the blistering shows and euphoric rock n' roll, they wrote amazing songs. "Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft" is the "Thunder Road" of the 90s.
Across my record collection, there are maybe 40-50 records that I believe deserve a nod alongside the likes of Born To Run, Highway 61 Revisited and Exile on Main Street, yet never really made it beyond a core group of followers. Over the next year or so, I'm going to shed a little light on some of those records. These aren't good records; these are classics, somehow lost, having never found their commercial stride.
If I span my entire collection, there isn't a record more deserving of a spot on this list more than the Philadelphia-foursome Marah's debut. I heard this record not long after its release and it immediately lurched my life in a million different directions. This was Mick and Keith but in the 90s. Before I could even catch my breath, I was driving from NYC to Philly nearly every weekend to see the Brothers Bielanko, Ronnie and Danny. Thrust into the center of the already brimming alt.country scene, Marah stretched across the Americana plain and became the best damn band, anywhere. Their shows, almost always in Philly, were some of the greatest pure rock n' roll experiences I've ever witnessed. And Let's Cut the Crap became the soundtrack to my life, or at least I wanted it to be. And beyond the blistering shows and euphoric rock n' roll, they wrote amazing songs. "Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft" is the "Thunder Road" of the 90s.
I guess the devil's had his way with the town
Now that Willie is in the ground
And I guess the devil made me this
When he gave me knowin' I can't resist
I got the bill today
Wrote back, I moved away
They called me up to say
They know that I'm still here
On the fifth day of the fifth month
At five o'clock in the dawn
I rolled myself in a t-o-p
And jumped out on Highway One
With a 400 engine hot as a cremation coffin
And a tailgate bangin like an airplane wing
I was rollin down the highway, doin it my way
whistlin' someday and singin this song
Now that Willie is in the ground
And I guess the devil made me this
When he gave me knowin' I can't resist
I got the bill today
Wrote back, I moved away
They called me up to say
They know that I'm still here
On the fifth day of the fifth month
At five o'clock in the dawn
I rolled myself in a t-o-p
And jumped out on Highway One
With a 400 engine hot as a cremation coffin
And a tailgate bangin like an airplane wing
I was rollin down the highway, doin it my way
whistlin' someday and singin this song
Nearing 20 years later, I can still remember the feeling of walking out of the Tin Angel or The Pontiac, or wherever they decided to play on a given night. It was as natural a high as I'd ever felt. "Phantom Eyes," "Rain Delay," "Fever," "Boat," "Punk Rock Radio," "Reservation Girl." I remember thinking that this was my CBGBs or Max's. I was seeing something that truly mattered. That would stand the test of time. Once they moved beyond Philly, we'd see them at the Jersey Shore, in Manhattan, even in Brooklyn. But these guys were Philly through and through. I mean, they named their sophomore effort, Kids In Philly, and for good reason.
If ever there was a moment
So quick that it blurred
I'd be the only one-liner that you ever heard
It was that quick. Their follow-up was another masterpiece and then, in a snap, they were a different band and it all changed. But maybe that's how it was meant to be. The blow out shows, the parties, the rides around South Philly at 5am. It couldn't last. But their debut record was rock n' roll perfection. About as good as anything their hero Bruce Springsteen ever released. They were drinking muskie moons on top of Laurel Hill, and I was there witnessing it all, standing on the corner, on a Saturday night.
