Marisa and the Moths - What Doesn't Kill You - Apple Red Opaque - VINYL LP

Pressed on 180 gram apple red opaque vinyl. First there's Marisa Rodriguez herself, whose name at the figurehead of the whole enterprise is perfectly justified. When a lot of hard rock is always on the hunt for a strong female vocalist, you're not finding many in the up-and-comer circuits that can surpass Rodriguez. It's why she's the only one the album cover-she's the superstar. In fact, you could go a step even further-she justifies the entire existence of Marisa and the Moths as a band. Without her, this could feel a lot less good overall, squatting in the antespace between '90s alt-rock, grunge and hard rock that, nowadays especially, can seem a little limited. It's what makes What Doesn't Kill You's 16 tracks spring out the most vociferously without a shred of subtlety to be found. There's a statement looking to be made with this album, on all fronts. The question becomes, then, how far behind Marisa herself are The Moths lagging? Well, despite how this sort of music is by no means engineered for something of this size anymore, What Doesn't Kill You isn't lacking for quality. Chronic bloat is a very real, very present factor, but not in a way that precludes the good stuff. In fact, it arguably can provide more legroom to rise up, and beat accusations of being repetitive and played-out in this context. Cursed is a great opener on that token, removing the rock standards entirely for piano, strings and Rodriguez's perfectly pitched emotionality that gives so much more in this kind of environment. It's also true of Straight-Laced, sporting the album's prime cut of choruses that the sparse solemnity of alt-country makes all the greater. Really, this whole piece could be just a gush session over Rodriguez as a vocalist, and it'd be perfectly justified. She's got everything you'd want-power; range; fluidity; the ability to channel the effects of her contemporaries while