Tag Archives: marcy playground

[Exclusive] Interview with John Wozniak from Marcy Playground (part 1)

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We recently were given the chance to sit down with lead singer/guitarist/songwriter John Wozniak from the band Marcy Playground. Yes, they’re still around.

In fact, while they aren’t as big as they were in the ’90s, they are still extremely active. This year alone they are touring to support their fourth studio album, preparing a fifth, readying a multi-volume collection of rarities and b-sides, putting together a live DVD, and much much more.

Join me as John shares with us everything from his inspirations to his favorite road food in our massive two part interview. Continue reading →

[Exclusive] Interview with John Wozniak from Marcy Playground (part 2)

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This is part two of our interview. Find part one here.

Being a touring band, and even going international at one point in your career, you’ve obviously ran across tons of different bands and met many musicians that people might not normally know about. Of those bands, could you share with us some of your favorites that you think we should expose ourselves to?

Yeah! There’s a band from outside Reno, Nevada, and they’re called Nevada, that I think is amazing. Zak Domogalla, who is the lead singer/songwriter for that band, I think is an unbelievable songwriter. You can check their music out on MySpace, their MySpace is just myspace.com/nevadaband. I think they’re terrific. There’s a band from out near [Indiana] actually that… I’m trying to remember what the Hell they were called. Really, really good band. … Dammit. Umm… Well if I remember I’ll shoot you an email. Great band. Dang. Umm… Nope! It’s not coming to me, but they’re a very good band that we’ve run across lately that was really good.

Dylan and I are into anything new. We’re always amazed by some of the incredible local talent that ends up opening up for us. There’s so much talent out there these days that it’s unbelievable. Continue reading →

[Music Review] Marcy Playground Live in Cincinnati, Ohio

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Overview:

woz3I’m not usually one for live shows. In fact, the last real concert I attended was when I went to see Bob Dylan about a year ago. There’s just something about the huge groups of sweaty people huddled together and breathing all over each other that just doesn’t appeal to me.

But when I found out Marcy Playground was actually stopping by a location semi-close to me (3 hours away), I jumped at the chance to finally see them live. They have been my favorite band since I was 10 years old, and after almost a decade of almost constant listening, I was more than ready to see them play. Continue reading →

[Music Review] Marcy Playground “Leaving Wonderland… In A Fit of Rage”

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leaving_wonderlandOverview:

“Leaving Wonderland… In a Fit of Rage” began life as the second solo project from Marcy Playground’s talented frontman John Wozniak, but was eventually became Marcy’s fourth studio album.

The album deals with topics that almost everyone can relate to, becoming a fantastic soundtrack for life. The amazingly personal and soulful lyrics are accompanied by fantastically written music  that shows just how talented Marcy Playground is.

It’s an excellent album, I’ll say that right now. But was it worth the five year wait? Continue reading →

[Music Review] Marcy Playground “MP3”

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marcyplayground mp3Overview:

Five years would come and go before Marcy Playground would release a follow-up effort to their 1999 album, “Shapeshifter.”  Marcy Playground’s 3rd studio album, titled “MP3,” was highly anticipated by fans, despite the fact that the band would not deliver a tour to support or hype the album’s release. Couple that with the fact that there was virtually no radio air time for any of the four released singles and it’s easy to see why this album is almost virtually unknown to anyone who isn’t a die-hard Marcy fan. Continue reading →

[Music News] Marcy Playground Launches New Site

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Marcy Playground’s official website has finally relaunched with a newly redesigned template and tons of new features including member bios, up to date news, a vastly improved layout and background, tons of pictures from the band’s flickr set, and an overall cleaner and more stream-lined navigation. Click here to go to their new website.

They also released a neat widget you can share with your friends on FaceBook, Myspace, Xanga, and many, many others. The widget holds the entire track list for “Leaving Wonderland… In A Fit of Rage,” the band’s upcoming album as well as “Special.” Follow this link to find the widget.

[CD Review] Marcy Playground “Shapeshifter”

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Overview:

marcyplayground shapeshifter“Shapeshifter” is the follow-up to the band’s self-titled premiere album which achieved platinum status and rocketed the band into temporary stardom with its biggest single, “Sex & Candy.” If you’ve never heard of Marcy Playground for any other reason, I’m almost positive everyone reading this review has heard that song.

With no “Sex & Candy,” to drive sales of “Shapeshifter” beyond the stratosphere, most people have never heard of this album. This obviously meant less commercial success for Marcy Playground’s second album, but critical acclaim was higher and more deserving than ever. In fact, many critics including myself consider this to be the best album Marcy Playground has ever released, which makes it a shame that the album is so obscure.

Continue reading →

[Music News] Preorder Marcy Playground’s New Album

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leaving_wonderlandJust up on Marcy Playground’s official website is the ability to pre-order their newest album “Leaving Wonderland… In A Fit of Rage.” For $12.99 you’ll get the 12 track album which includes a free download of “MP3,” their last studio effort, for free. The CD will be shipped “on or near” the album’s June 7th release date.

Click here to pre-order your copy.

Retro-Review: Marcy Playground Self-Titled Album

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Overview:

Marcy Playground is probably (in my humble opinion) the single most underrated and unrecognized rock band from the ’90s. Their self-titled album debuted in 1997 and it’s first single “Sex and Candy” spent 15 weeks at #1 and managed to generate two other singles called “St. Joe on the Schoolbus” and “Sherry Frazier”. Despite the album’s platinum status Marcy Playground is now mostly a forgotten band remembered almost exclusively by the success of “Sex and Candy” which is an unfortunate fact because they really are one of the greatest bands around. You just don’t know it.

marcy_playground

Review:

My single favorite thing about the album is it’s immense diversity. Members John Wozniak (Guitar, Vocals), Dylan Keefe (Bass, Back-ups) and Dan Reiser (Drums, Back-ups/no longer with the band) pulled off a huge variation of sounds ranging from modern-folk to psychadelic to hard rock, and they pulled it off well. Extremely well.

Despite having a very diverse sound, it’s all mellow and soothing yet still extremely blissful. John Wozniak’s lax vocals complement his creative lyrics perfectly. And the lyrics are another great thing about the album. “Poppies” for instance tells the story of how opium came to be. “St. Joe” tells about John’s wistful childhood. One of my personal favorites, “One More Suicide” tells a depressing tale of love gone horribly wrong.

Usually, when doing album reviews I talk about the good and bad songs. The thing is, I’ve looked with a very critical eye and still can’t find any bad songs on the album. “Opium” is probably the least impressive song but that’s about it. And the only thing that really keeps it from being as great as every other song on the album is it’s overly lethargic sound and the overall depressing mood it presents listeners. Even so, it’s a great song.

Of all the other songs on the album, my personal favorites are “Ancient Walls of Flowers”, “A Cloak of Elvenkind”, “Sherry Frasier”, “One More Suicide”, “Dog and his Master”, and of course the album’s most popular hit “Sex and Candy”. The latter-most listed, “Sex and Candy”, was easily the album’s strongest hit but some of the others listed are way better, just not as recognized.

Track List:

  1. Poppies
  2. Sex and Candy
  3. Ancient Walls of Flowers
  4. Saint Joe on the Schoolbus
  5. A Cloak of Elvenkind
  6. Sherry Frasier
  7. Gone Crazy
  8. Opium
  9. One More Suicide
  10. Dog and his Master
  11. The Shadow of Seattle
  12. The Vampires of New York

Final Words:

Marcy Playground’s debut self-titled album is a great gem that deserves a listen from anyone who grew up in the ’90s. It’s one of my favorite albums and has been for several years. Marcy Playground’s music has a timeless quality that’s sure to please just about anyone even today, ten years after it’s release. Check it out.

Score:

Overall: 9.3/10 (Amazing)

Lyrics: 9.5/10 (Inspirational, clever, and from the heart)
Music: 9.5/10 (Smooth and calm, yet invigorating at the same time)
Entertainment Value: 9.0/10 (It’s ten years old, and I still find it to be fresh and unique)

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