Press for Where The Knives Meet Between The Rows from:
Music News Nashville
May 18, 2012
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“I descended into a depression that lasted over a year. So you’ll hear themes of anger, frustration and fear all over this record,” explains Portland, Oregon folk-rock artist Leigh Marble, speaking about his third and latest full-length album, “Where The Knives Meet Between The Rows.” It took some time to bring about this Laughing Stock Records release; while writing and recording, his girlfriend-now-wife battled breast cancer. Making it was a healing experience for him, and he hopes it will be so for anyone who has stood on the awful precipice of disaster.
To borrow from the singer/songwriter’s opening line, Marble’s gonna create until the anger’s gone, and song after song on this ten-track CD is intensely dark and confessional, with unexpected, engaging arrangements and biting vocal deliveries. His music arguably can be described as the Doors meet Tom Waits, with lyrics that are equally introspective and gothic eschatological.
Thunderous toms punctuate a haunting tone on “Walk,” while an infectious groove and swirling organ move the bluesy “Jackrabbit.” The singer painfully tells us “If I could I’d make up a better plan/If I could I’d wake up a happy man,” backed by soft drum brushes and gentle guitar and piano on the unlikely lullaby “Goodnight,” followed by a vulnerable vocal performance on “Evil,” set against Beatle-esque, Mellotron-derived cello sounds and not-too distant toms.
“Nail” takes us on a seven-minute crawl through blackness: “So keep your eyes on that nail in the coffin/On the thread as it winds off the bottom/And there at the end of your rope/You’ll test the aerodynamics of hope.” Marble’s ire can sometimes sound deliciously agreeable, causing an I’m-as-mad-as-hell-and-I’m-not-going-to-take-this-anymore “Network” response, such as on his track “Holden,” where he spews, “All you f***ing fakers/I’ll arrange you to meet your makers/Twist you up like a pretzel/Kick you out on the tide/We watched you float away/And guess what? Nobody cried.”
Things wind down with a rousing Springsteen-like moment (“Pony”) and an accordion-laced, late-night-smoky-dive-bar feel on “Inebriate Waltz” – the lone historical tale about an ill-fated 19th Century poet. This is raw and powerful stuff for those in need of an emotional cleanse.