Surrender To the Fantasy

Elisa Ambrogio holds so many disparate pieces of the puzzle that it’s a wonder these songs hang together so well. For the first decade of the 2000s, it was hard to keep track of how many “songs” or “albums” Magik Markers had, since anyone coming to see them play could choose among an impressive amount of CD-Rs, singles, and albums. But four years after 2009’s Balf Quarry, 2013’s nine-song Surrender to the Fantasy feels as if the group has finally settled down long enough to discuss beforehand where they want the songs to go. Pete Nolan’s timekeeping is resilient, if not always as dependable as most bands would expect—but most drummers don't have their tracks run through a phaser (“Mirrorless”). Newish bassist John Shaw seems content to give the craziness a sense of stability. Anyone on the fence about a “noise-rock” group should probably cock an ear to the guitar histrionics of “Acts of Desperation” and “American Sphinx Face” and see if it doesn’t recall the feverish side of Neil Young.