★★★★★
Here's the story behind Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania. Whether it's true or not is entirely up to you. Over a hundred years ago, seems Pennsylvanian folklorist Henry Shoemaker gathered a mighty collection of American song lyrics. Somehow, hipster folkies David Bielanko and Christine Smith of Marah got their hands on the collection, and, in true Billy Bragg-style, wrote some brand new music to fit some of the lyrics, thus resurrecting some long-lost bits of Americana...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-02-28
★★★★★
Philadelphia's hardest working rock and roll road warriors are back with another admirable effort. The brothers Bielanko (Serge and Dave) and their revolving cast of bandmates have been churning out old fashioned nuggets of rock, soul and whatever else strikes their fancy since they strode on the scene with Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight-released in 1998 by little ol' Mississippi label Black Dog in 1998. (It was reissued in 2004 by Phidelity Records...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
Anyone put off their feed by Dave Bielanko's running Springsteen impression on Marah's 2000 roots-garage critics' album Kids in Philly will be relieved to learn that, although Bruce himself cameos on the follow-up, Bielanko's voice has changed. Now, with help from former Oasis producer Owen Morris, he's emulating Liam Gallagher, and having lowered his sights comes within a tonsil's breadth of hitting the target...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2011-03-14
★★★★★
Much has happened to Marah since last we checked in. In 2008, the band, led by brothers David and Serge Bielanko, released Angels of Destruction!. Allowing for the addition of keyboardist/vocalist Christine Smith, this was the second album by that particular lineup of the band--only the second time this has happened in the band's apparently turbulent history...
- www.popmatters.com
2011-01-20
★★★★★
Life Is A Problem is a problem. The 10th full-length by Philadelphia's Marah kicks off with some sampled barnyard noises before easing into "Valley Farm Song," a song as bucolic as the band's prior work is bombastic. The vibe is laid-back to the point of listlessness, but it may be meant as therapeutic: Marah's 2008 album, the rowdy Angels Of Destruction!, ended with the 10-minute opus "Wilderness," the sound of a band coming apart at the seams...
- www.avclub.com
2010-07-23
★★★★★
Much has happened to Marah since last we checked in. In 2008, the band, led by brothers David and Serge Bielanko, released Angels of Destruction!. Allowing for the addition of keyboardist/vocalist Christine Smith, this was the second album by that particular lineup of the band—only the second time this has happened in the band's apparently turbulent history...
- www.popmatters.com
2010-07-16
★★★★★
Four years ago Marah earned an Uncut Album Of The Month accolade for Kids In Philly. Then came the leaden heavy rock of 2002's Float Away With The Friday Night Gods, on which they made an ill-advised bid for Kings Of Leon territory. The good news is that 20,000 Streets Under The Sky represents a substantial return to form, mainly because it finds brothers Serge and Dave Bielanko going back to their original influences with un-self-conscious pride...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2010-06-19
★★★★★
Angels and devils, detox and drink, stray dogs and distant loves, New York and Spain: Angels Of Destruction! presents enough recurring and unifying details to qualify as a song cycle or thematic opus. But those touches are for lyrics-obsessives. Mostly, Angels just rocks. These guys (and one new gal, keyboardist/vocalist Christine Smith) know their Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, but they also know their Faces, Replacements and AC/DC...
- www.magnetmagazine.com
2009-10-31
★★★★★
The year 2000 is a historically significant one. There are the obvious reasons, such as the fact that the world did not end at the strike of midnight on January 1st (nor, I might add, did all the machines and computers of the world rise up against us all and take over the universe in a bloody fight for domination), and the inauguration of President George W. Bush and all of it's controversy that still lives today. On a smaller scale, the year 2000 was a great year for music...
- www.lostatsea.net
2009-10-30
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