You’ve got to admire the ambition. Quiet Marauder’s debut album isn’t something as limiting as a double, like, say, The Mothers of Invention’s ‘Freak Out!’ (the first debut double in history) or MSP’s ‘Generation Terrorists’. No, they’ve not so much gone the whole hog as an entire farmyard with their debut. ‘MEN’ is a 4-disc behemoth (in vinyl terms we’d be looking at an 8-disc box set) containing a whopping 111 tracks. Yes, you read that correctly. A Nelson, in cricketing parlance. Yowsa. But do we really need that much Quiet Marauder all in one go? Do we want that much Quiet Marauder in one go – or ever? Certainly, it represents a greater body of work than many bands achieve in years, even decades.
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Their quirk indie folk has hints of Syd Barratt and the Bonzos, and is quintessentially English in style and execution, not least of all its humorous bent. There’s no question that this ‘album’ has its moments, with some bona-fide gems scattered throughout. But with the best will in the world, it’s a chore locating them, and even if you love what they do, after the first 20 or 30 songs it starts to become a shade wearisome. Nice enough, but best taken in moderation.
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