Steve Marino Crafts a New Power Pop Gem with 'Too Late To Start Again'

Plus, the latest episode of the 'Album of the Month' podcast.

There’s been another welcome wave of new subscribers to the newsletter over the past month, and new or old, I’m glad you’re here searching for your new favorite song. Thank you for reading!

If you’re a podcast person, the latest episode of 5-9’s Album of the Month is streaming now. Each month, a panel of Andrew Belt of 5-9, Karl Blakesley of New Music Weekly UK, and I pick an upcoming record we’re excited about for discussion (Matt McLister of Blinded By the Floodlights and a listener vote round out the five for each month).

I usually come away with a good idea of a few records that will be fighting for my favorite of the month - July’s episode is the hardest decision yet because it was the first time that all three of us were almost universally let down by new albums from Blur, Laurence Guy, PJ Harvey, Gus Dapperton, and PVRIS.

With Check This Out!, I’m almost always writing about music I’m excited about. If you’re curious about the other side of the coin when I dread talking about some albums (including my own pick), this episode is great to dive into.

Stream it on Spotify here.

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I’ve spent the past few relatively quiet release weeks listening to the albums mentioned earlier for the podcast and dipping into this year’s Mercury Prize nominees. Outside of Young Fathers and Jessie Ware’s excellent records that I’ve covered in the newsletter, I’m on the record of not being too thrilled about this year’s batch of albums for one of the UK’s most significant music awards. This combo has had me search for something completely different - as much as I love PJ Harvey and appreciate her new record quite a bit, I’ve been hungry for some easygoing ear candy.

My internal plea for help was answered last weekend when On Repeat Records’ Kevin Alexander recommended Too Late To Start Again, the sophomore record from Steve Marino. You may recognize him from one of his Bloomington, Indiana bands like Jacky Boy or Bugg or as a touring-turned-regular member of Angel Du$t, a melodic hardcore supergroup that includes Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice members.

While you no doubt hear the grungy foundations of Bugg throughout, Too Late To Start Again is the latest and greatest example of trading in the heavy shredding day job for an interest in crafting end-of-the-millennium throwback power pop. I try not to compare an artist/band to another artist/band often, but Marino wears his influences on his sleeve. That being said, he does a masterful job of creating his own universe while writing an album that sounds like a mixtape of unheard gems from some of the biggest radio names of the late nineties and early aughts.

“Satisfy You” opens things with chorus-drenched guitar and harmonies straight out of the Adam Schlesinger playbook, perfect for washing the car while sweating under a weeks-long heat dome. At the same time, “Comedown” also nestles right into Fountains of Wayne vibes. The lead single, “Got You (In My World Now),” is true So Much For the Afterglow-era Everclear sprinkled with a dash of The Rentals’ synth hooks, while “Tune You Out” is surely straight from the Empire Records soundtrack and has the perfect crunch to get you through Rex Manning day.

I especially love the back half of this record after “Leaning Off the Sun” blows the dust off some old Elliott Smith tapes. “Love You More Than Before” instantly refers to the early days of Foo Fighters, when it was a one-man show, and Dave Grohl wrote songs not always destined for the beer-chugging mainstream rock charts. Saving the best for last, “Blue” is an album highlight that turns a depressive episode into a massive wall of guitars. At the same time, “Pins and Needles” reminds of something more current, like Alex G. To close things out, Marino goes straight to the source of nineties power pop, with a lovely stripped-back cover of Teenage Fanclub’s “I Don’t Want Control of You.”

We can compare these songs to all kinds of alternative and power pop bands over the decades, but make no mistake, Steve Marino and co-producer Ben Lumsdaine have created an album of endless hooks that will have you pressing “play” as soon as its thirty-minute run time breezes by. With Too Late To Start Again, Marino proves that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel if your tires are made of deliciously sweet college rock.

Too Late To Start Again is available now on Pop Wig Records.