Mark Mallman
The End is Not the End
Reviewed by: Ziggy Merritt
“I’m desperate to feel something, to feel something real, something real, something”, belts Mark Mallman, the inspiring Midwest rocker with a known penchant for staging live marathon sessions of his music with one of the latest spanning over 180 hours. Having this fact out in the open, it would be easy to write off Mallman as the living embodiment of a gimmick, someone who has involved himself in the industry without establishing a grounded identity. But if his lyrics are to be believed, and indeed they should, Mallman is nothing less than genuine in his most recent release.
The album in question, The End is Not the End, has had two years of polishing to make it shine, bringing to mind the seminal Bowie album, Scary Monsters and Super Creeps that helped inspire the direction Mallman took with each of the album’s twelve tracks. That said, it’s ambitious for any musician to aspire to the lofty if occasionally overhyped heights of Scary Monsters. In this single instance, Mallman shows restraint. While the album itself is remarkably unsubtle in its production, he uses the framework of his inspirations to create something only he could make.
The first track off of the album, “Hologram Jesus” displays this proudly in all of its earnest intensity. Mallman’s vocals here and throughout are nothing if not energetic making it difficult for any listener not to appreciate the attention directed at making those same vocals the centerpiece of the album. Wrapped around this is a lush production that builds and builds, never once daring to level off during the battle of guitar, percussion, and electronic flourishes.
Nothing less can be said for the title track, which similar to “Hologram Jesus” plays out like a radio-ready, classic rock single. For reference this would lie somewhere in-between The Who and U2, well before the latter released albums that can never be deleted. Meanwhile “Monster Movies” recalls a Nile Rodgers-era funk vibe that can trace itself back to the album’s Bowie roots as well as the more contemporary influence of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. Moving from here to the more plaintive and honest epic of “Let it Shine”, it’s clear Mallman has wisely infused his latest album with the darkness of his personal life, giving The End is Not the End a weight that may not be noticed upon the first casual listen.
Collectively The End is Not the End is not Scary Monsters, but it doesn’t need to be nor should it be. What’s present here is the best effort of an artist breaking into his own lived experiences and displaying them at the forefront of his music with all the available vigor he can muster. Those same efforts have largely paid off, leading to an album that celebrates a rich history of rock while embracing an identity of its own design.
Rating: Bad-Ass
