Marnie Stern - The Comeback Kid

It’s been a decade since we last heard from Marnie Stern, but when her guitar bursts in like a shower of stardust on The Comeback Kid it’s like no time has passed.

But this is no nostalgia trip. The Comeback Kid is a statement of intent. “I can’t keep on moving backwards” Stern repeats on anthemic opening track “Plain Speak”, her fingers furiously tapping the fretboard as the song joyfully zips forward like a rocket hitting warp speed. Stern continually pushes herself outside of her comfort zone throughout The Comeback Kid, including not leaning on the tapping technique that launched a thousand Eddie Van Halen comparisons. “Til It’s Over” is as straight-ahead an alternative rock song as Stern has ever made and there’s a cover of Ennio Morricone’s “Il Girotondo Della Note.”

Taking joy in your individuality is the message of The Comeback Kid, as is the realisation that making music which truly reflects who you are in all your brightness and your weirdness is quite possibly the key to happiness. “This record is about reassuring yourself that happiness is not about what kind of things you have or how many things you have or what you don’t have—it’s about all the good things you do” says Stern.