SXSW Profiles

Marah, Stubb's, 10pm Thursday

"Most alternative country shit I think is boring -- most of the records people send me I don't like. I'm not going to slag anybody, but there's just so much mediocre music."

So thinks Dave Bielanko, who along with sibling Serge, forms the brotherly love half of Philadelphia fourpiece Marah (accent on the second syllable). And for better or default, Marah's rough cut first album, 1998's Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight, got them lumped into that ever-widening alt.country corral.

"That first record was a very challenging record," claims Bielanko. "It was just something that we were doing, and I never figured it would leave Philadelphia."

The younger Bielanko brother not only figured wrong on that account, he probably never anticipated the album ending up in the hands of y'alternative kingpin Steve Earle, who began fervently courting the Philly kids for his E-Squared label soon after. Marah was hesitant to sign on, because they wanted to stay home and make their own album, but Earle's assurances helped change their mind.

"Steve just had that thing where he was able to stand back and let it happen," Bielanko says. "I thought that was the coolest thing that anyone could have done for us."

The result is Kids in Philly, an album that not only celebrates the band's hometown and everything it embraces musically, from spirited soul to Springsteen, but also dispels any and all Americana notions. It's also an album with origins that belie its sharp sound.

"It was made in a garage," reveals Bielanko. "For me it's more like a soul record. It's about projecting a song in a different light. It's where our heads were at that moment, but I don't imagine our next record will sound like that."

Not forever, but for now, Bielanko is just anxious to get out on the road, where the band thrives with the alcohol-abetted fury of Stinson-era Replacements.

"To play live is all about the energy," explains Bielanko. "I feel like we play in a really great band so I always have a good time. The records speak for themselves. If they don't speak to you, then we've probably got different record collections anyway, so fuck you."