Matt Marque

Matt Marque must have taken to heart some of the harsh things critics had to say about his voice after the release of his 2001 debut, Get There. Gone are the J Mascis gurglings and notes that break long before their intended target, replaced here on his lonely sophomore effort, Nothing Personal, by soft Jobim whispers and an abject delivery that has more in common with Nick Drake than Stephen Malkmus -- though musically it owes a great deal to Pavement. Marque recruited an eight-piece collective of Chicago's finest to supply the trimmings, including Lofty Pillars' Glenn Kotche and Joe Ferguson, as well as Toe bassist Griffin Rodriguez and lead guitarist John Schneider -- the latter provides some of the record's tastiest moments. The jacket cover, with its three stoplights swaying beneath a cement-gray sky, pretty much sums up the overall feel of Nothing Personal. The sparse arrangements are built around the solid pulse of Marque's acoustic guitar, programmed beats, and poetic lyrics, never offending or even making much of an impact on the listener -- that is, until the second or third spin. From "Blowback" through "Your Best Guess," Marque insists on being ambivalent about keeping the listener's attention, and that's what makes Get There such a difficult piece of work. However, patience is rewarded by the evenhanded complexity of tracks like "Undertow" and "By the Way," and what seems maudlin at first eventually becomes intoxicating. In fact, the record works better as a continuous piece, propelling lovers of rainy Sunday melancholy into bittersweet bliss with each little storm. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide