Marcy Playground - Marcy Playground

Marcy Playground's John Wozniak was one of those kids who, like Charlie Brown, got a bag of rocks for Halloween instead of candy. Fortunately, Wozniak used his childhood ostracism as the inspiration and fuel to write charmingly quirky pop songs. Wozniak woos the listener with his smooth, low-key vocals and lighthearted delivery of weighty, somewhat twisted, and darkly humorous songs. "Poppies" gives a cheery history lesson on the origins of the international opium trade, while "Elvinkind" and "Dog and His Master," with its chorus of "One little, two little, three little idiots," could become new, if slightly warped, children's standards. And then there's the country feel of the chartbuster, "Sex & Candy," with the sing-along refrain "I smell sex and candy here." One of the qualities of an exceptional band is the ability to tell a story through their music; something that Marcy Playground succeed at beautifully. --Gail Worley Amazon.com

Nice Warm-Up

This album is decent, but not nearly as good as their subsequent two (Shapeshifter and Mp3). I agree that it needs to be "louder". Wozniak is an amazing songwriter, but I feel that the producers of this album really robbed it of something by toning everything down. Love them live, and love their other two albums! April 9, 2008

Chill, dude. (Try not to freeze, though...)

Not much to say about this one, really. It's mellow, downtempo, easy listening, calm, smooth...does "stoner" qualify? (Hey, the star track is "Sex And Candy"; I think that's a legit question.) The problem is that downtempo needs to have something to it to be good. It can be sweet and poignant (Jack Johnson), etherally beautiful (Loreena McKennitt), heartful and upbeat (Counting Crows), or edgy (Toad The Wet Sprocket). Marcy Playground, both the band and the self-title album are...just there, unfortunately. No big hook, nothing that stands out. If you're into smooth, easy listening, you'll love this. Not a whole lot to recommend/trash otherwise. July 5, 2007

Light-hearted Melancholia

This band embodies what I like about Post Grunge music. It takes heavy emotion and delivers it in a light-hearted melody, yet still embodies a certain Grunge influence. It's like Grunge on Prozac.
It's a laid back band, so if you're looking for something hard and heavy, I won't suggest this. It's best to listen to when just lounging around or maybe going for a relaxing drive. February 16, 2007

Marcy Playground

I really only purchased this CD because I liked the song "Sex and Candy". To my surprise there were some other songs on the CD that were pretty good. On the other hand, there were some other songs that were not that great and that is why my rating stands at the median. January 13, 2007

not bad

I just bought this album and its growing on me with every listen. If you're into hard rockers, avoid this. Its a mellow album with some strange songs on it. Opium is a nice cut :D December 30, 2006

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