There’s a fabulous story that appeared on NPR about a fake bio for the band Delicate Steve that was so juicy that the NPR correspondent had to dig deeper and get to the truth. The link to the story appears at the bottom of the page and is well worth reading for anyone who has ever had to write a band bio/press release or read a band’s bio. Delicate Steve is the creation of Steve Marion. Falling somewhere between an alternate identity and a catch-all band name for the group of touring musicians, Marion has assembled to bring his party-time-shred-fest to the stage. Delicate Steve explodes out into the world plastering smiles across the faces of anyone in their blast radius. Originally conceived and recorded in Marion’s bedroom in central New Jersey, the mostly-instrumental songs are ramshackle celebrations. These aren’t sad-bastard bedroom pop ruminations; this is a bedroom that had a racecar bed in it until they had to make room for the drum kit. There is a love of swirling guitar pyrotechnics that is extremely proficient without ever approaching a self-indulgent guitar wankfest This has more to do with Marion’s aims to craft joyous, poly-rhythmic jams than his command of hammer-ons and sweeping arpeggios. The shredding is used in service of the songs. This applies to the army of effects employed as well. Pitch-shifted riffs ping-pong across the songs colliding with scrappy early Epcot-era synth sounds that remind us that, once upon a time, the future was going to be a beautiful place to make babies in space. Marion and the rest of his North Jersey band are part of the prolific Smallboypants Collective known for their steady output of lo-fi psychedelic cassette and vinyl releases. Delicate Steve crackles with a boyish energy as the songs twist and change with an impish glee. Delicate Steve is the sound of fun firing on all cylinders, an aggressive soundtrack of a Godzillaesque creature stomping through a city with a giant smile on its face and holding a bouquet of colorful balloons.
