Witness Marker- S/T LP (Sale price!)

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SKU: witnessmarkerlp

Band/Title: Witness Marker

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"I’m writing about serious issues. I’m just not as cynical as I once was,” says Chris Werner, vocalist of indie punk band Witness Marker. "I hope these songs, in their own way, offer a bit of optimism.”

Encouraged by lead guitarist Bruce Ewell to explore more uplifting lyrical themes, Chris looked within himself and found the task at hand a challenge. The two musicians previously played together in a reunion of Chris’ hardcore band, No One’s Hero, where he screamed his words with aggression. In Witness Marker, he has softened the edge yet still sings with conviction while tackling themes that are at once personal and universal.

The song "Ron Wayne” is about finding your best self in your worst situations. "Worse for Wear” is a love song about having one’s back no matter what happens. This maturation in Chris’ lyrics, paired with Bruce’s songwriting, yielded ten confident songs for their self-titled album co-released this year by Division Street Sounds and Not Like You Records.

Witness Marker began as a series of demos recorded solely by Bruce in 2017 under the name Burn It Backwards, inspired by a line in an Elliott Smith song. It was a slight change in sound for the Lancaster, PA, musician who grew up playing in skate punk-influenced bands. A long search for a singer frustrated him after several auditions proved fruitless. He then called Chris to gauge his interest in the project. Feeling unsure of what to expect, he sent him two demos only knowing "he would bring an originality to these songs." Chris, with his unconventional style of writing, added just the right amount of attitude Bruce wanted in his songs. After recruiting rhythm guitarist and brother Steve Ewell, he finalized the rhythm section with bassist Tyler Smith and drummer Nick Skladandy.

The band entered Noisy Little Critter recording studio in spring 2019 with the intention of producing songs for a self-released 7-inch vinyl trilogy. That was the plan until Division Street Sounds, discovered the band in the process of releasing a discography of the classic Lancaster band Kirk and The Jerks (who had been featured on the 1989 H-Street skate video Hokus Pokus).

Witness Marker spent their inaugural year not only recording but also playing shows at the storied Chameleon Club and in support of local skate park initiatives. With live music momentarily on hold for venues everywhere, the band anxiously awaits their return to stages in central Pennsylvania and beyond. More than anything though, they are ready for people to hear their debut album now.

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released April 9, 2021

Witness Marker- Lp „s/t” (Division Street Sounds) 2020
By Adam Szulc Barber December 2021

Winter is just around the corner, and we have a great album just in time for the rest of the year. Pennsylvania's Witness Marker released his debut album exactly a year ago, but I've only managed to get one now. This makes a big impression on me, because I like how bands relate to music from thirty-fourties and give it a new vibe. Partly they are grown gentlemen with grow beards, part beards, but all together they are great catching a common flow - for good music.
The Witness Marker record includes a lot of catchy tunes, intelligent arrangements, interesting contrasts, and quite creative compositions. All of them make almost every song on here a hit. I'd like to see them live somewhere, but I think this will only be possible across the ocean. I think they have a lot of concert potential. Maybe because this music has a huge emotional load and although they don't play fast and don't have heavy sound, the dynamics of these songs are powerful. If anyone likes Embrace, Dischord Records vibes, Hot Water Music, Citizen or old playing from Doghouse Records from Ohio in Endpoint, Transcend, Fountainhead or Split Lip vibes, this band will hit the top. Emo core with a pinch of punk rock, indie, and college rock is what played out in the US a quarter of a century ago, and now it's cool. Emo Core Revival? As if I wrote it first!
But not only American bands I hear in the influence of Witness Marker album. Maybe I'll surprise you, but the main inspiration in my opinion is the non-existent Zambrowiecka group of Bike Thieves. These knifes, riffs, and vocals are as if taken alive from their latest recording. And it's boasting - even if only my crooked ear hears it. I really like the song "Worse for wear". Calm, with a slightly metalizing guitar like the old Iceburn or Into Another, with a great vocal, restless drumming, incredible anxiety at the end of the piece, which however closes with a recurring chorus and tones emotions... "Dearest indifference" is also nice with a strong, punk beat and a bit chaotic vocals as if the singer couldn't keep up and was still chasing the rest of the orchestra. I like this light drive, but in the end it's supposed to be like that (I think). Ok a solid record. Not just musically, because the lyrics on this album are typical of emo in the early nineties. Very personal and to a large extent written in the first person. I like writing like this because I write, I am the subject and that's all about me. Texts entitled: "you are like that" or "you change" written from a mentor's perspective don't suit me. I like it when the author writes about himself even if he means the whole world, because basically all problems concern us all. Both personal and those revolving around the troubles of the whole planet. And it's cool to see in the lyrics on this album. Mature writing. I like such rhetoric: "I feel sad and I fight myself, because I am the reason for the confusion and I will start to change the world from myself" - great!
The jury is like this tonight.