MarsupiaL – Genus Thylacinus (Independent) You gotta like a band that namechecks the live / studio engineer in their band roster on the album sleeve! When you listen to the album you will realise why. This five piece, hailing from North Carolina, start as they mean to go on, with a near nine minute epic (“Lead On”) that brought back some memories for me, I can tell you. The Wipers came to mind at first, at least instrumentally; then a hint of Lynryd Skynyrd guitar on the next track, “The Man Who Knows Things”, with maybe a dash of the Marshall Tucker Band in the mix too. And so we go, with a little dash of Karate (Geoff Farina) vocals on “Naked In The Hall Of Seduction”, a slab of Metallica (no, really!) on “Sucker Punch”. All the way through these 8 tracks there’s a hint here, there’s a flavour there, usually just beyond grasping who it’s a taste of. Which is actually, in a musical sense, quite delicious. I am in awe of this marvelous band! This album is one fine outing for anyone. It’s all held together with the band’s own ‘jam’, which brings me back to listing J Ferris, the engineer, as a band member. I reckon they could all just fall into the studio, or onto the stage, and let it all hang out, because it would all hang together with such ease. They really do have a penchant for variety, and the ability to avoid self-indulgence when carrying it all before them. I don’t think I have heard a band jam so well since the heyday of the Dead. A highly recommended LP’s worth of tunes. www.myspace.com/marsupialband Kev A. MarsupiaL – Lead On Next