In the ten years since her last solo release, Marnie Stern spent time with the house band on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Now, the eccentric guitarist has released the aptly titled The Comeback Kid, a marvel of two-handed tapping and eclectic, experimental arrangements.
For Marnie Stern, it’s all about the riff. “I used to have a sign on my wall that said, ‘The Riff! The Riff! The Riff!’” she says. “Because, for me, when you’re working alone, it’s easy to drift away from the riff.”
Without one, she says, “[the music] would be like a textural thing behind me,” and while that may not be a bad thing, that’s not her vibe. Her influences include the Who and Talking Heads, noise and post-punk bands like U.S. Maple and Erase Errata, and math-rock group Hella, whose sounds inspire her to take a different approach. “I want to remind myself about all the rock songs that I grew up listening to, and the riff is really key on all those songs.”Stern’s new album, The Comeback Kid, is a smorgasbord of blazing gems that stay true to her riff-centric ideals, and cut to the chase with clever and assertive phrasing. In a way, it may even be a nod to the Minutemen, with every song clocking in between two and three minutes, as Stern eschews the standard verse/chorus formula in favor of erratic arrangements that take you on exciting, albeit compact, sonic journeys.
The Comeback Kid is quirky, angular, and unsettling, but delivered with a coy sense of humor. Many of the songs, like the opening track “Plain Speak,” as well as “The Natural” and “Oh Are They,” are built around fast, high-end, multilayered, tapped guitar figures. Then “Forward,” the fifth song on the record, interrupts the brightness for something more sinister, sounding like a strange synthesis of Houses of the Holy-era Zeppelin and Talking Heads,with a touch of flange. There’s also an odd-metered spaghetti Western cover of Ennio Morricone’s “Il Girotondo Della Note,” which gets increasingly eccentric before ending abruptly one minute and 19 seconds in. “At this point, weird time signatures are just baked into me,” Stern elaborates. “A song will almost never be in 4/4, but I am not really trying to make it that way. I just come up with a phrase—I can always tell it’s not in four, but I don’t know exactly what it is.”
“A song will almost never be in 4/4, but I am not really trying to make it that way.”
Stern recorded all of the guitars and vocals at home using Pro Tools, and she finds coming up with vocal parts to be the most difficult. “[It’s] the hardest part for me,” she says. “I am very comfortable putting together interesting guitar parts, and I work really hard on each tiny part. An eight-second part could take all day, developing it and the intricacy of what it is going to be. That’s why I end up layering so many vocal tracks, because it’s just so hard for me to figure out the right melody. That’s also part of why I yell so much; my screaming style is because melody is my biggest challenge.”
The Comeback Kid marks Marnie Stern’s return to her solo career since her last album in 2013, and features only guitars and drums.
The path of least resistance in producing the guitar parts, she explains, was to record all of them direct. “I live in Manhattan and the neighbors would go bonkers,” she says about the possibility of cranking an amp in her cramped New York apartment. Stern’s pedal of choice is the Tech 21 SansAmp GT-2 tube amplifier emulator. (She runs that pedal, along with a Boss Digital Delay, through a Fender Deluxe Reverb when performing live.) Overall, her approach is decidedly barebones. She’s a loyal Fender Jazzmaster user as well, though she does have two of those. “I just love the Jazzmaster,” she says. “I have an older one, and then the past bunch of years I’ve been playing this American Pro Series that Fender came out with a couple of years ago. But that’s basically it.” That simplicity also applies to the album’s instrumentation. Aside from vocals, The Comeback Kid features nothing but guitars and drums, the latter of which was added later.
“I thought all those other styles were going to be sunk in there, but I guess because they weren’t mine, it didn’t stick.”
Thanks to the enlisting of Arcade Fire’s drummer Jeremy Gara, the drum parts for the album were a piece of cake. Stern sent Gara the tracks and trusted him to do the rest. “I mean, Jeremy’s an amazing drummer,” she says. “Arcade Fire is an amazing band. He knows what he’s doing. I didn’t give him anything. Not a thing.” For having gotten into the music without any direction, Gara’s drumming fits in perfectly with Stern’s frenetic, unflinchingly exuberant energy.
Marnie Stern's Gear
In her songwriting, Stern leans into odd time signatures mixed with layered vocals and tapping, and of course, the riff.
Photo by Frank White
Guitars
- ’80s Fender Jazzmaster
- Fender American Professional Series Jazzmaster
Amps
- Fender Deluxe Reverb
Effects
- Tech 21 SansAmp GT2
- Boss DD-8 Digital Delay
Strings & Picks
- D’Addario .010s
- Fender Medium picks
Once it had all coalesced, The Comeback Kid became Stern’s first album after she’d taken a long break from her solo career, a period which included an eight-year stint as the guitarist in the 8G Band, the Fred Armisen-led house band for Late Night with Seth Meyers. The 8G Band is unusual in that, instead of a cast of studio heavyweights, Stern’s co-conspirators included musicians pulled from the indie-rock world, such as Seth Jabour and Syd Butler from the art-punk band Les Savy Fav, Eli Janney from Girls Against Boys, and Armisen, who played with the Chicago-area punk band Trenchmouth.
“In the beginning, we would have a different drummer each week,” Stern says. “The drummer from Primus would be on and we’d learn a Primus song, or the drummer from the Pixies would be on so we’d learn a Pixies song, or Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers was on so we learned a Chili Peppers song, and on and on and on. It was a lot of different drummers and styles, and I think that helped a lot—jumping into a different band and learning the song. It was a very quick turnaround. Plus, we wrote eight songs a day. We could have notes on stage, and we had in-ear monitors to hear a playback of the song before the commercial break. I had just been in my one world [before joining], so it was a really great experience.”
“If a part is interesting, I’ll put it in, even if it’s not commercially going to further my career. I just like what I like.”
Stern’s main axe is a Fender Jazzmaster, which she’s seen playing here in a performance back in 2013.
Today, Stern reflects on her time with the 8G Band with a mixed perspective. “It was great to do it for those eight years, and then it was great not to. It’s just that that whole thing is about [Seth Meyers]. It’s great to do that world. But it’s also nice to do something for yourself a little bit.”
Despite taking a long hiatus from her solo career—not writing new material, recording, touring, or even playing her old songs—and then coming back chock full of new styles, situations, and collaborators, Stern sounds right at home. The Comeback Kid comes across as if she simply picked up where she left off.
“I guess other people learn properly, but that’s just how I’ve always done it.”
“For those eight years, I barely played anything of my own,” Stern shares, “and then when I sat down to write, I couldn’t believe how quickly it just came back. I thought all those other styles were going to be sunk in there, but I guess because they weren’t mine, it didn’t stick.” Although, all that time on TV did affect her attitude. “I grew a bit more technically, in terms of how to do certain things, but I came back to, ‘I don’t give a fuck.’ If a part is interesting, I’ll put it in, even if it’s not commercially going to further my career. I just like what I like.”
Before recording The Comeback Kid, Stern spent eight years playing with the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Part of what Stern came back to is her idiosyncratic approach to two-handed tapping. “I need to keep the pick for the next part,” she says, “so I hold it in my hand and use my middle finger at the same time to tap. With my left hand, a lot of the time I’ll use my pointer and my ring finger, but not my pinky. Isn’t that strange how you just do something? I guess other people learn properly, but that’s just how I’ve always done it.”
Tapping is all over The Comeback Kid, as heard on the anthemic-sounding “Working Memory,” which also includes somewhat contrapuntal figures from the different layers of guitar (plus dissonant stabs and a provocative solo, too). It’s also on the almost manic “Nested,” that seems to mellow near the end where she employs a more textural usage of the technique. But, tapping isn’t the only thing she does. She’s also got a mean picking hand, which you can hear in action especially when she’s leaning into upper-register tremolo parts on the album’s second single, “Believing Is Seeing.”
Tone inspires her, too, although once you start talking about tapping and tone, somehow she finds a way to bring that back to the riff. “Of course tone inspires me,” she says, “and for tapping, distortion inspires me. But I am really into focusing on the riff and trying to get that as full as possible.”
YouTube It
Stern’s only taken to the stage again recently, but this video from 2013 shows her exercising her spectacular chops and knack for bright, energetic, and uplifting fronting and songwriting.
The Nashville-based power player uses classic-style guitars and amps to create big tones that echo from the past to the future.
Our last Rundown with J.D. Simo was eight years ago. Since then, the songwriter, guitarist, and producer has worked with Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, Dave Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, and even been a friend in Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh’s band Phil and Friends. Currently, Simo is promoting his most unique, original, and raw album yet, called Mind Control, where he explores Afrobeat grooves and Mississippi trance blues. Simo invited John Bohlinger and the PG team to his studio to look at some new and old friends with strings, cones, and attitude.
Brought to you by D’Addario XS Strings.
Hail to the Chief
JD Simo’s No. 1 remains his beloved and battered 1962 Gibson ES-335. It’s had a few changes since his last Rundown. Note JFK on the back of its headstock! Nashville star luthier Joe Glaser modded the neck tone control to knock it out of phase. During quarantine, Simo reinstalled the original Bigsby bridge with nylon saddles. This, and all of Simo’s guitars, use Stringjoy strings (.010 sets, when tuned to standard) and are picked with Jim Dunlop tortoise mediums.
Trifecta of Cool
The backside of the 335's headstock reveals some classic stamps.
Picks of the Litter
Here you see JD's Jim Dunlop tortoise medium pick (for guitar) and a Dave Grisman DAWG pick (for mandolin).
Jazzmaster Just in Name
It began life as a mid-’60s Jazzmaster body. Fellow Nashville-based guitarist George Bradfute added a MusiKraft neck and refinished and rewired this 6-string with a humbucker and S-style pickups from Vintage Inspired Pickups, out of Beverly, Massachusetts. There is a phase switch on the tone control.
Headstock Shock
A close look at this axe’s headstock logo reveals that … well, this offset has a unique make and model name. The Asscaster stays tuned down to B with .014–.064 strings.
From the Deeps
This Echopark Exner Tavares in a seemingly luminescent finish is made from white pine sinker wood. It features a gold-foil neck pickup, a ’70s Fender Wide Range bridge pickup, and a Chris Swope Guitars bridge. The Exner stays tuned down a whole step, with .011–.049 strings.
Down in the Hollows
Here’s an all-stock 1952 Gibson ES-5 in standard tuning and strung with flatwound .012—.056 strings, for vintage tone. This model debuted in 1949 as an electric version of Gibson’s then-popular acoustic L-5.
Lab Rat
This Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab ’64 SG Standard features OX4 pickups, hand-wound by Mark Stow in Oxford, England. The finish is the work of Gibson’s famed in-house aging and replication expert, Tom Murphy.
Humble Hotshot
Simo’s going for heavy acoustic vibe with this 1965 Silvertone H165. It stays tuned down to C# and is amplified with a LR Baggs M80 pickup.
Mondo Mando
This 1966 Kay Airline mandolin is hipper than most, with the company’s cool Kelvinator-style logo on its headstock. It’s all original, including the Jimmy Reed-style pickup and two-tone binding.
Mr. Natural
J-50 is the Gibson company’s designation for its natural-finish J-45 workhorses—the guitar that helped define modern folk music. This 1961 J-50 features a 1963 DeArmond RHC-B soundhole pickup and stays strung with nickel bronze .012–.056 strings.
Goodbye Marshalls
Depending on the scenario, Simo currently uses one, or a combination of, these amps: a 1964 Ampeg Gemini I with a Weber ceramic-magnet ferromax speaker, a 1949 Alamo Model 3 (lower right), a 1972 Fender silver-panel Deluxe Reverb converted to black-panel specs (also with a Weber speaker), and a Pre CBS Amps Clifford 18W made by Zack Allen of Nashville’s Carter Guitars. The latter is essentially a 7591-output-tube Princeton Reverb clone and has a Weber speaker. Simo runs with his amps with an AmpRX Brown Box power attenuator.
At the Stomp Post
Simo’s very simple pedalboard includes a 1972 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, a 1973 Vox Cry Baby with a Chase tone pot, a rehoused vintage Kay fuzz, a Strymon El Capistan, and a Fender trem/reverb Switch. XAct Tone Solutions made the board and its battery box. Simo also uses Divine Noise Cables.
Witness how light guitars produce big, chunky tones, thanks to a pair of blaring British-brawler amps and a hearty pedalboard.
Behind the moody makeup, angsty energy, arena-level production, rebellious revelry, and 20 empty Marshall cabs blasting flood lights is a legit modern rock band. And behind the band’s charismatic leader Yungblud (aka Dominic Richard Harrison) is its producer, songwriter, and bona fide riff assassin Adam Warrington. Armed with a handful of Gibsons, a Gretsch, and an MIM Jazzmaster, he is a mortar of might.
Before Yungblud’s redlining, headlining show at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium on January 29, Warrington gave PG’s Chris Kies some quality time to detail his artillery. During the interview, he explains why he lives by this advice: “If you love a guitar, don’t change it.” Plus, he reveals how his Box of Doom iso cab has become an integral ingredient, and walks us through a recent pedalboard rebuild that occurred after his previous stomp station was stolen from his London flat.
Brought to you by D’Addario Nexxus 360 Rechargeable Tuner.
Solid Guitar
For the Life on Mars tour now crisscrossing the United States, Yungblud guitarist Adam Warrington’s No. 1 was this 2018 Gibson SG Standard that’s completely stock. (He did have a single fret replaced after it was ripped out when colliding with a drum riser in Las Vegas.) Originally owned by bandleader Yungblud (aka Dominic Harrison), the guitar was commandeered and kept by Warrington. He’s been favoring the black bombshell on this run for its beefy tone and the slender frame that allows him to “jump about” onstage without compacting any vertebrae. His main ride stays in standard tuning and takes Ernie Ball 2015 Skinny Top Heavy Bottom Slinkys (.010–.052).
Mr. Brown
“This was my favorite guitar [before acquiring the SG] and it probably still is, but I don’t play it as much because it’s quite noisy in the States,” admits Warrington. The problem child is a Gibson Custom Shop ES-335 that is loaded with P-90s that are coil-tapped. The semi-hollowbody is finished in a glossy, caramelly translucent brown. He almost put a Bigsby on it, but a friend reminded him that “if you love a guitar, don’t change it,” so it’s remained the same. This one sees stage time for the quieter numbers that require him to dial back the volume for a more acoustic, jangly sound.
Les Paul, More Glue
“I’m a massive Jimmy Page fan and this is the closest I could get to his guitar.” The more affordable approximation is this 2001 Gibson Les Paul Standard that has earned all its scar tissue riding hard with Warrington. About a month after purchasing it, he was performing with Yungblud and blasting overhead fluorescent lights revealed the guitar was sold to him with a neck repair. This wasn’t disclosed to Warrington at the time of purchase, but to test matters, he broke the headstock a second time when it fell off his bed. He claims the guitar sounds better than ever after two neck repairs.
Ready for Your Close-Up?
Here’s an intimate view of the burst smiling wide off Warrington’s Les Paul.
Ready for Your Close-Up?
Here’s an intimate view of the burst smiling wide off Warrington’s Les Paul.
Casey Jones
Warrington has named this LP “Casey Jones.” No, the Scot isn’t a devoted Deadhead or a railroad buff, but it’s the name of the weed strain he bought in Amsterdam shortly after scooping this guitar at Denmark Street Guitars in London.
Surf the Jetstream
This stylish, tuxedo of a guitar is a Gretsch G6128T-89VS Vintage Select ’89 Duo Jet with Bigsby that makes a name for itself during shows for any songs in D-standard or drop-C tunings. To help keep tension equal to the standard-tuned guitars, the Duo Jet gets wrapped with Ernie Ball 2026 Not Even Slinky Paradigms (.012–.056).
Jammin’ on the Jazzmaster
This 2010s Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special is probably Warrington’s longest 6-string friend. To give his MIM offset a unique look, he swapped out the tortoiseshell pickguard for a mint green and took off the cream knobs and replaced them with black witch-hat controls. Aside from removing the jazz circuit (he kept accidentally knocking it into rhythm mode), everything else about the guitar is stock and he typically plays it with Ernie Ball 2027 Beefy Slinky Paradigms (.011–.054).
A Bass for Ben
Adam Warrington’s guitar tech Ben Jackson tends to instrument maintenance in the shadows, but each night he puts on this Iron Lung BJ5000 to perform one song alongside Warrington. (Yungblud typically performs as a three-piece, with guitars, drums, and no bass.) This beauty was handbuilt by 21-year-old budding luthier Josh Warner, who shadowed Jackson as a tech assistant on a previous U.K. tour. This '70s J bass replica was a token of his appreciation. He constructed everything (including the pickguard) and only outsourced the hardware, tuners, and knobs, and obviously didn’t wind the Seymour Duncan SJB-3 Quarter Pound J-Bass pickups.
British Brawlers
Adam’s setup features a Hiwatt Custom 20 and a Marshall Bluesbreaker Model 1962 reissue. The Hiwatt works in conjunction with a Dr. Z Brake Lite attenuator and PDI 03 JB Joe Bonamassa Signature Model guitar speaker sim DI box. The JTM runs into a Box of Doom Basic iso box, outfitted with a single Celestion G12H-150 Redback. Both amps are running red hot, which causes Ben to replace the Hiwatt’s EL84s several times during a long tour. And these amps are panned in Adam’s in-ears (left has Hiwatt and right has Marshall).
Red Menace
Seen from the moon are Yungblud’s wall of red Marshall cabs. The stage props are just spray-painted Marshall 4x12 shells that house flood lights for dramatic blasts of millions of lumens!
This is Adam Warrington’s second pedalboard build since backing Yungblud. The first iteration was stolen from his London flat. This version is close to the original and retains a Boss ES-8 Effects Switching System as the brains of the operation. His guitar hits the Dunlop Echoplex Preamp EP101, DigiTech Whammy, and then an Ibanez WH10V3 Classic Reissue Wah. After that, everything routes through the ES-8. That’s an Electro-Harmonix POG, two JHS Pedals (Crayon and Muffuletta), ZVEX Super Hard On, Fulltone ’70 BC-108C Fuzz, and a trio of Boss big boys (RV-500 Reverb, DD-500 Digital Delay, and MD-500 Modulation). And all of Warrington’s guitars are kept in check with a Boss TU-3s Chromatic Tuner.